People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 413 The King of War in the Song Dynasty

After Lu Chao got out from behind the screen, he politely offered his hand to Qingyuan Wugong and showed a gentle smile.

Qingyuan Wu was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly stood up and bowed and said: "It turns out to be Lu Dian. It really makes me feel honored to see Lu Dian here."

He naturally knows the identity of Lu Chao, because Dewa Country is very close to Sado Island. He once personally brought some specialties of Dewa Country for trade and met this famous businessman from Song Dynasty.

Nowadays, the Song Dynasty has many businessmen in Japan, and the most famous and high-status among them is Mr. Song Caisong, who has strong capital and bought a lot of shares in the Iwami Silver Mine.

Then there is Lu Chao. Among the mining rights and shares of the Sado Gold Mine this time, apart from Song Cai, it is Mr. Lu Chaolu who holds the most shares.

However, Lu Chao knew that those shares were not his, but the forces behind him.

Because Lu Chao's identity is the spokesperson of the General Cao family in Japan.

In the second half of the third year of Qingli, Zhao Jun, the magistrate of the Political Academy of the Song Dynasty, began to plan to deal with the problem of redundant troops.

His first thought was to resolve the dispute peacefully with Jiangmen to avoid bloodshed, so he tried to give some of the benefits to Jiangmen.

Although it later proved that Zhao Jun clearly underestimated the greed of the generals, so that the plan failed, and in the end he was still forced to go through a purge to solve the dilemma of redundant troops.

Even though there are millions of people in Japan now, the divisions are too serious.

So how can you get more money?
Although his salary is very high and he can make a lot of money from each trade, the shares are not his and the profits are not his business.

Therefore, since he came here at the beginning of the fourth year of Qingli, for more than three years, Lu Chao couldn't stop.

Lu Chao smiled slightly.

Unexpectedly, after arriving, he discovered that this place was not hell, it was simply heaven.

None of the three paid attention to these details. Qingyuan Wu asked: "Lu Dian just said that there are as many weapons and armors as you need. Is it true?"

Therefore, from that time on, generals such as Men Xungui joined the maritime trade one after another and became pioneers in going to sea.

During the Heian period, Japanese dignitaries often addressed each other by their official names, residence names, etc.

What do thousands of blades and thousands of armors mean?
It means you can walk sideways in Japan.

As a result, he rarely returned to the Song Dynasty in the past year. He simply stayed in this place for a long time and learned the local language.

If he was involved in corruption and was found out by the Cao family, the consequences would be disastrous.

Abe Yoriyoshi said hurriedly: "Please sit down, Mr. Lu."

Lu Chao sat among them, looking like a master.

Nora Abe and Takeshi Kiyohara were sitting opposite each other, with a small coffee table in the middle with a teapot and teacups on it.

"good."

For those children of aristocratic families, even those with a relatively low status, they would definitely not be willing to go to a place like Japan where nothing matters.

Because in their eyes, this is no different from exile.

However, before the Great Purge, there were still some people who were aware of current affairs and changed their banners and chose to cooperate with the court instead of continuing to resist to the end.

Among them is letting Jiangmen invest in shares and participate in maritime trade together.

Lu Chao turned his head to look at him and said with a smile: "We are a huge country with a vast territory and abundant resources. Naturally, it has sufficient armaments and countless bladed armors. If Qingyuan Palace wants it, let alone thousands of blades and thousands of armors, even if it is We, the Song Dynasty, can afford tens of thousands of blades and tens of thousands of armors.”

Therefore making money is the main business.

Naturally, his status was not very high, so he was sent to a place where many people did not want to come.

However, if the person is unfamiliar, he or she will be called a certain palace. If the person is more familiar, and in informal situations, he or she will be called a certain minister.

He is a nephew of a branch of the Cao family. His mother's surname is Cao. He is the fourth generation distant cousin of Zhao Jun's wife Cao Miaoxin.

The Cao family was the first to invest in shares, and was naturally the first to profit. Not only did it gain a firm foothold, it also established its own fleet, stationed people locally, purchased mineral shares, and was quite influential in Tsushima, Iwami and other places. force.

Moreover, the status of Song people here is very high, comparable to that of superiors.

Otherwise, a poor Song Dynasty person who came to Japan would not be able to live such a good life.

Although Japanese women are a little shorter, their skin is a little darker, and their appearance is a little ugly. But there are still a few good-looking ones among ten thousand.

"Qingyuan Palace, you are so polite. I have long admired your name."

Qingyuanwu's breathing became rapid for a moment.

So many people don't want to come.

However, although Lu Chao lived a life of luxury and debauchery here, he also knew very well that the main reason why he could live so comfortably was because of his money.

Lu Chao was the person in charge sent by the Cao family to station the docking fleet in the Shijian area.

Lu Chao slightly cupped his hands and immediately sat down on the main seat between the two people.

Ordinary low-class civilian women are not even qualified to serve him. Many small nobles want to marry their daughters to him, even as a concubine.

Therefore, if he wanted to get more money, Lu Chao had to find other ways.

Lu Chao thought the same way at first. Although the treatment was good, he resisted in every possible way. He didn't accept the job until he couldn't pay off his gambling debts and had no other choice.

For this reason, Zhao Jun even gave the generals a try and asked the Cao family to participate first, taking a trip on the ship to show everyone how profitable sea trade was.

Obviously, by calling him this way, Abe Yoriyoshi deliberately told Takeshi Kiyohara about his close relationship with Riku Chao.

Selling arms is the best way.

An area of ​​two to three hundred thousand square kilometers has been divided into more than sixty or seventy countries.

Every country not only has court forces like Guoshou, but also local powerful families like them.

The vast majority of the population is controlled by wealthy families in various places, which leads to larger wealthy families like the Fujiwara family, which owns a large number of estates and can muster tens of thousands of troops.

Smaller families, like the Tachibana family of Echigo Province, have been reduced to lower-level nobles under the pressure of the Fujiwara family. There are only a pitiful dozens of people who can barely hold the position of Echigo State's national guardian.

In this way, millions of people can gather up to 200,000 to 300,000 troops at most, and then each family will get a point, and hundreds of families will get a share, but can't each family only get a few hundred or a few thousand soldiers?
Therefore, during the Kamakura Shogunate period, when the Yuan Dynasty attacked Japan, they gathered the strength of the whole country and only had 12 people.

Therefore, in this extremely divided situation, if a wealthy family has more than five or six thousand soldiers, it is basically one of the largest forces in Japan.

If these thousands of soldiers had blades and armor, they could be said to be invincible.

After all, the subordinates of wealthy families in many places now use sticks as weapons and bamboo as armor. If they have iron knives and armor, why not chop melons and vegetables?

Thinking of this, Qing Yuanwu did not hesitate at all and asked quickly: "I wonder how much this blade is and how much the armor is?"

"This is it."

Lu Chao glanced at Abe Yoriyoshi next to him, and then said: "A crossbow requires 15 strings, a bow requires 8 strings, a pair of armor requires 580 strings, and a sword requires 33 strings."

"what?"

The price frightened Qing Yuanwu out of his wits and he couldn't help but said: "Is it so expensive?"

"Not expensive, not expensive."

Lu Chao waved his hands repeatedly and said: "These bladed armors are all made by famous craftsmen in the Song Dynasty. The knives are extremely sharp and the armors have high defensive power. Don't you, Japan, have famous swords like Doji Kiri Yasutuna and Kohomaru? With them In comparison, the blade of my Da Song knife is not only as sharp, but also five times cheaper.”

He didn't blush or breath when he said this, and he couldn't tell that he was lying at all.

In fact, the source of the military equipment of the Lu Dynasty is actually the weapons and equipment that were eliminated after the 1.2 million forbidden troops were eliminated.

After Zhao Jun's army was restructured, the main weapons of the Forbidden Army were changed from cold weapons to hot weapons.

Even though cold weapons such as waist knives are still retained, the weapons have also been transformed, from the original iron knives to steel knives.

After all, the Song Dynasty's swords and armors in the past contained too much sulfur due to workmanship problems, which was usually fine. However, problems were exposed during the war with Xixia, as they were too easy to break.

So now they are naturally replaced with steel weapons.

What to do with all the weapons and equipment that have been eliminated?
Basically there are two places to go.

One is to remelt it into molten iron and make it into steel.

The second one is to flow into the market and be sold to countries such as Dali, Yue, and Goryeo.

Even in those years, when Xixia and Liao could exchange supplies with the Song Dynasty and there were no import and export restrictions, they also bought a lot of weapons from the Song Dynasty.

However, even so, due to the exaggerated military expenditures of the Song Army in the past few years, obsolete armor and weapons accumulated in mountains, which neighboring countries could not digest at all when there was no war.

Therefore, Da Song still has a lot of inventory.

This allowed Lu Chao to see an opportunity.

During his several years in Japan, he also noticed the divisions in Japan.

There are now more than sixty or seventy countries, hundreds of wealthy families, each with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. If these people gathered together, they would probably have at least 100,000 troops.

Although it was still small compared to the number of armies in the Song Dynasty, it was already a huge market.

Another problem is that countries such as Liao, Xixia, Dali, and Goli are not particularly short of iron ore, so they have certain weapons and armor manufacturing capabilities in their own countries, and the market will be very small.

Japan is different.

Japan has no shortage of gold, silver, copper, sulfur and other minerals, but iron ore and coal mines are extremely scarce, leaving them with very few armors and weapons.

So this is a huge market. It would be better if they could be encouraged to fight and have a greater demand for armor and weapons.

It's just that the price is obviously difficult for Qingyuan Wu to accept.

He waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Lu Dian, this is too expensive. In comparison, our weapons and armor are much cheaper than yours."

"Of course I understand, but I hope Qingyuan Palace understands that not only is your weapons and armor produced less, but the quality is still inferior to our Song Dynasty's weapons and armor."

Lu Chao stood up and said, "If Qingyuan Palace doesn't believe it, you can come and have a look with me."

Takeshi Kiyohara and Noriyo Abe stood up.

The three people then went to the backyard, where a lush tree blocked out the sky and the sun. On a shelf under the tree were placed several sets of armor and simple knives, lifting knives and other blades from the Song Dynasty.

"The sword on Qingyuan Palace's waist looks good, why not try it on our sword armor?"

Lu Chao aimed at the knife on Qingyuan Wu's waist.

Qingyuan Wu quickly waved his hand and said: "Forget it, there is no need to compete. Song's swords and armor are indeed powerful."

Seeing the sword and armor, Qingyuan Wu knew that there was no need to try it.

Because the knives of the Heian period in Japan were learned from the fixed knives of the Tang Dynasty, the blades have the characteristics of being narrow, thin, and short, a bit like the samurai swords of later generations of Japan.

While steel production was not particularly large from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, this type of straight knife was very popular.

But after the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, the steel filling method flourished, and steel production increased dramatically, so the term "Song Badao" came into being.

The common feature of these knives is that the back of the knife is thick, and it is powerful and heavy when cutting. For example, the lifting knife equipped by the Song Army, also called a hand knife, is a bit like the machete of later generations.

If you use a machete to attack someone with a small straight knife, isn't that bullying?

"You don't have to fight with a knife, why not try armor?"

Lu Chao said enthusiastically again.

When Qingyuan Wu saw the armor, he nodded and said, "Okay, let's try it."

As he spoke, he drew his sword, walked to the wooden frame, and struck the armor hard with his sword.

There was a crisp "bang" sound, and his narrow and thin knife directly opened a gash.

The armor was intact.

Qingyuan Wu glanced at his sword distressedly and sighed: "Song's armor defense is really amazing."

Lu Chao smiled and said nothing.

In Japan, people use wooden sticks to beat bamboo armor, and it is considered good to have a few wrought iron knives.

That kind of particularly good steel knife can be said to be a national treasure-level sword, the kind that can be sold for hundreds of dollars.

For example, there is a famous sword in Japan called the Great Prajna Changguang. It is a hundred-smelted steel sword and is worth 600 swords.

And such a knife can be made easily in the Song Dynasty. If it is sold to Japan, wouldn't it be crazy?
Therefore, even if these swords and armors are outdated equipment eliminated by the Song Army, if placed in Japan, they would already be like gods.

"It's just that the price is still too expensive. I can't afford it at all."

Qingyuan Wu shook his head and sighed.

As he spoke, he looked at Abe Nora and said, "Abe-don is indeed rich, and he can afford such expensive knives and armor."

"If Qingyuan Palace is serious about it, the price is not impossible to negotiate."

Lu Chao smiled.

Abe Yoriyang also said: "Qingyuanden doesn't know something. I can't afford these knives and armors, but the price Ludian sold to me is much cheaper."

"Oh? How much cheaper can it be?"

Qingyuan Wu asked hurriedly.

"The cheapest one is a crossbow with only 3 strings, a bow with 1 strings, armor with 500 strings, and a sword with 80 strings."

Lu Chao quoted the final low price, which was indeed very conscientious and cheap.

Historically, during the Renzong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, in the Shaanxi area where there was a war with Xixia, a crossbow cost 1 coins per gun, a bow cost 500-1 coins, a pair of full armor of the Shenwu Army was worth 700 guns and 800 coins, and a vest cost 1 coins and 58 coins. Wen, 200 swords for 1 wen.

The price will definitely be more expensive during the war. In terms of cost alone, these items are estimated to be discounted by half to one-third. For example, a set of full-body armor should cost about 30-40 pieces.

But you must know that this is shipped to Japan, and the freight cost alone is very high. Therefore, if the price is only doubled, it is already a reasonable price.

"Is it so much cheaper all at once? Then."

Qingyuan Wu was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "What is the price?"

"Kiyohara-don is a smart man, I believe he can understand what Abe-don and I want."

Lu Chao smiled and said: "If Qingyuan Palace is willing to form an offensive and defensive alliance with Abe Palace, I can sell the weapons to you at this price."

"Well"

Qingyuanwu fell silent.

He naturally knew that the Lu Dynasty wanted to encourage the two of them to separate themselves and even make Japan more chaotic.

In this way, once there is a war, his ordnance will sell better.

So does Takeshi Kiyohara have such ambitions?

Of course there are.

Otherwise, why would he later send troops to attack the Abe clan? Wasn't it because he coveted the Abe clan's Mutsu territory?
So after a brief silence, he said without any hesitation: "If Lu Dian is willing to sell the weapons to me at this price, of course I can form an alliance with Abe-don, but..."

Kiyohara Takeshi said with a wry smile: "But even so, I think it is still very expensive. After all, Abe-dono is very wealthy and has many mineral deposits in the country, but my country, Dewa, is very poor."

He has more than 3,000 people under his command, and each person needs more than 20,000 swords. Where does he get so much money?

"It doesn't matter if you don't have money. I heard that a mine was recently discovered in Dewa Country. It's called the Ani Mine?"

Lu Chao asked.

"Yes, but we have searched this mine. There are very few mines outside. It requires a lot of people to dig it out. This requires huge manpower and material resources."

Qingyuanwu shook his head and said: "It is too difficult to mine this mine, otherwise I would have sent people to dig it long ago."

Lu Chao smiled and said: "Qingyuan Palace doesn't need to worry about this. I just need you to hand over the mining rights to me. From now on, I will not only bring you generous returns every year, but also have a very powerful force."

"What Lu Dian means is that this mine will be mined by you?"

Qingyuan Wu's eyes widened.

"nature."

Lu Chao smiled confidently.

The Japanese cannot mine it because their mining tools and mining technology are backward.

After all, although the Japanese in the Heian Period passed the Dahua Reform, they learned from the Tang Dynasty and entered the feudal society from the Stone Age.

However, the lack of iron resources in Japan still cannot be solved. As a result, most of the agricultural tools used by their farmers are stone or bronze, and the number of iron tools is pitiful.

Isn’t it a joke to use this kind of equipment for mining?
However, the Lu Dynasty can transport a large number of mining tools from China and recruit local people to dig, without having to worry about technology and tools.

Therefore, the Japanese could not open those mines, but they could mine them. This is how the Iwami Silver Mine was mined.

After learning what Lu Chao meant, Qingyuan Wu pondered for a moment and then said: "Okay, then as Lu Dian said, I will hand over the mining rights of the Aren Mine to you."

"Then thank you Qingyuan Palace."

Lu Chao smiled even brighter.

Kiyohara Takeshi looked at him deeply and said: "Lu Dian is really scary. He can easily start a war. Abe-don and I are both pawns in Lu Dian's hands."

"I'm just an ordinary businessman, here to help everyone's expectations."

Lu Chao smiled humbly and said: "Don't you two really want to become a prince, and even go south to Heian Kyo, defeat the Fujiwara clan, and become regent? Everything I do is to help you."

Abe Yoriyang and Kiyohara Takeshi looked at each other, and then they both laughed.

Yes.

They did know that the Lu Dynasty instigated them to rebel in order to sell arms.

But so what?
Who is willing to just be a local tycoon?

Since the army is strong and the horse is strong, it is natural to establish himself as the king, and even covet a higher position.

So this is a conspiracy.

Even if both of them knew this, they would jump in willingly.

As long as they are ambitious, that is enough.

(End of this chapter)