The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 845: Send troops to Japan
In Chenliu County of Liang Prefecture, thousands of farmers knelt before the county government office, pleading for the release of grain.

Generally speaking, all government agencies are willing to distribute grain. If they have the authority to do so, they will open their granaries without hesitation. The portrayal in movies and TV shows that officials treat the people like dirt and refuse to distribute grain is utter nonsense.
Distributing grain is such a good opportunity to launder money. People with all sorts of dirty secrets can take advantage of this opportunity to clean up their mess. Even if only three thousand shi of grain were distributed, I can report that five thousand shi were distributed. How can they find out?

Many government officials would burn down the granaries on the eve of the imperial inspection, even if it meant bearing the blame for mismanagement. How could they possibly let go of such an opportunity to open the granaries and distribute grain?

The reason why the government does not distribute grain is simply because it does not allow it. Anyone who dares to distribute grain without authorization will be dismissed from their post, so officials dare not distribute grain.

The Sui Dynasty did not allow county and prefectural governments to distribute grain at will. During the reign of Emperor Yang Guang, local governments were strictly prohibited from distributing grain. This was also prohibited after Xiao Xia came to power. However, the father and son's actions were completely different. Emperor Yang Guang did not care about the lives of the people.

Xiao Xia, on the other hand, took back the responsibility of disaster relief to the imperial court and put it under the Pingzhun Division of the Ministry of Revenue. The Pingzhun stores in various places were opened by the Pingzhun Division, and Pingzhun granaries were set up in various prefectures to allocate grain according to needs.

With the establishment of the Pingzhun Store, local officials were naturally not allowed to distribute grain without authorization.

Magistrate Wang Wuzhuang of Chenliu County raised his hands and clasped his hands, saying: "Fellow villagers, you can go to Pingzhun Store to get grain. The imperial court has a special relief program. You can buy coarse grain for ten coins a dou, or you can get free beans and potatoes. Bring your household registration book. Each household can receive five dou of free beans and potatoes and three jin of coarse salt per month."

Those requesting grain were mostly rural farmers, who were not very familiar with Pingzhundian in the county town.

The yamen runners came down to persuade them, and the thousands of farmers gradually dispersed, heading to Pingzhun shops in various parts of the county town.

Originally, there were only two Pingzhun shops in Chenliu County, but now two more have been added temporarily. However, all four shops have long queues stretching for miles.

The official name for the store was Pingzhun Store. In other words, it was called the Sancu Store, which sold coarse grains, coarse cloth, and coarse salt at very low prices. Usually, not many people bought from it because everyone cared about their reputation. If they weren't really poor, they wouldn't buy Sancu products and would be ridiculed by their neighbors behind their backs.

But now everyone is too proud to care about saving face. A month of continuous rain has caused grain prices to skyrocket. The price of rice has risen from 40 wen per dou to 120 wen per dou. The rich don’t care about this price increase, but ordinary people can’t afford it and have switched to eating the affordable grain provided by the government.

Although it's called whole grain, it's not actually whole; it's just old rice and wheat. The taste isn't great, but otherwise it doesn't matter much.

In addition, as long as the prices of salt, cloth, and honeycomb briquettes don't rise, everyone can weather the disaster.

Clothing, food, housing, and transportation are all important. Housing and transportation are not the main concerns. The key is that the imperial court guarantees the three aspects of clothing, food, and fuel, so the people will not rebel.

Now, Sancu Shop has added another item called Doushu Liang, which is a mixture of wild pea flour and yam flour in a 1:3 ratio. Originally used to feed horses, it is also safe for human consumption. It is made into a paste with water, steamed, and eaten. Each household can receive five dou (a unit of dry measure) for free each month. When receiving it, you need to bring your household registration book. The shop will paste a piece of paper on the back and stamp it with a seal.

Each time you collect it, it will be recorded on paper. If you don't have your household registration book with you, it doesn't matter. The first time you collect it, you can directly collect a bushel of beans and potatoes and a pound of coarse salt, so you won't make a wasted trip.

Farmers kept carrying beans, sweet potatoes, and coarse salt home. Although the beans and sweet potatoes didn't look very good, they could fill their stomachs, which was the most important thing.

Chenliu County was just a microcosm; similar incidents occurred in various places across seven prefectures and one state, including Xingyang, Liang, Dong, Xiangcheng, Yingchuan, Huaiyang, Jiyin, and Luoyang.

At the same time, the imperial court dispatched Chancellor Xiao Yu and Cui Hongzhou to various places to inspect and offer condolences, while the Censorate and the Imperial Guard also sent a large number of personnel to various places to conduct both overt and covert investigations.

Luo Shixin's 100,000-strong army assembled in the southeast of Lintun County, which was the southeast of the former Silla Kingdom. In addition to the 100,000-strong army, there were also 20,000 naval troops and more than 1,000 warships.

Luo Shixin has received the Emperor's order and has begun to take action against Japan. The action against Japan is divided into two steps. The first step is to occupy Kyushu Island and bring Kyushu Island and Iwami Province on Honshu Island into the territory of the Sui Dynasty. The second step is to plunder Japan's wealth and develop Japan's Iwami Silver Mine.

That morning, amidst the sound of bugles, more than a thousand warships set sail, carrying an army of 70,000 men, heading towards Tsushima Island.

The sea was calm, and the fleet did not stop at Tsushima Island, but continued to sail towards Hikuni in the Saikaido. Two days later, the fleet arrived at the port of Shikajima in Nagasaki.

After their 40,000-strong army was annihilated by the Sui army at sea, the entire Japanese kingdom collapsed. They were like criminals who could not escape punishment, cowering in a corner and trembling. If the Sui army did not come, they could breathe a little easier, but if the Sui army attacked, they could only be slaughtered at their mercy.

Thousands of warships arrived, bells rang loudly at the dock, and thousands of soldiers fled at the mere sight of them. Luo Shixin led 50,000 troops to land directly in Nagasaki. At this time, Nagasaki was not yet a seaport; the seaport was located on the island of Jiji, which was the departure point for envoys to Sui and those going to Baekje, as well as the departure point for Japanese warships. It had already been captured by Fei Qingnu's navy. Luo Shixin's mission was to seize Kyushu Island, so he landed directly in Fei Province and began preparing to sweep across the countries of the Western Sea Route.

After destroying the military facilities and troops on Zhijia Island, Fei Qingnu's navy, consisting of hundreds of warships, continued its journey, passing through the Shimonoseki Strait and the Seto Inland Sea, heading towards Naniwa Port, where the capital city of Asuka Kiyomihara is located.

Inside the staff cabin of the lead ship, Pei Shiqing gave Fei Qingnu a general overview of the situation in Japan.

"Japan is currently ruled by an empress named Empress Suiko, but there are two regents: Prince Umado and Soga no Umako. I just heard that Prince Umado has passed away, and now Soga no Umako holds the reins of power. His family is the most powerful family in Japan, and almost half of Japan's wealth is concentrated in the hands of a dozen or so powerful families, with the Soga family at the head. The imperial family is relatively weak. If we eliminate the powerful families in Japan, we will be doing the imperial family a great favor."

Fei Qingnu shook his head and said, "I don't care about the internal strife in Japan. My mission is to seize Japan's wealth. Let them fight it out themselves, whether they live or die."

Pei Shiqing laughed and said, "Then it's simple. We want money, not lives. As long as you hand over your wealth, we'll spare their lives."

Pei Shiqing, as a special envoy of the Sui Dynasty, had been to Japan. Out of consideration for face, he still did not want the Sui army to carry out a large-scale massacre.

Fei Qingnu sneered and said, "I can spare their Empress, but she must go to Luoyang to confess her crimes to the Emperor of Sui. As for their powerful families, I estimate that a major war is inevitable!"

Fei Qingnu's mission was not just to seize wealth; he wanted to destroy the Japanese royal family and court, and make all the vassal states in various parts of Japan independent.

This was a secret order from Luo Shixin, and he didn't want to tell Pei Shiqing yet.

Eight days later, five hundred large ships arrived at Naniwa Port. Although it was the port of the capital of Japan, it was very simple and only some boardwalks had been built. Fortunately, it was a natural harbor, which allowed the Sui soldiers to land.

News of tens of thousands of Sui troops landing quickly reached Asuka Kiyomihara, plunging the capital into chaos. Soga no Umako, who had always been assertive, was of course not going to surrender.

At the same time, he also realized that this was an opportunity to take control of the Emperor's army. If he defeated the Sui army, he would become the supreme ruler of Japan. Of course, if he was defeated, everyone would perish together.

Soga no Umako was going all in; he was willing to gamble everything, his life and the fate of Japan.

He immediately gathered 20,000 soldiers from 15 powerful families, along with 10,000 troops controlled by Empress Suiko, totaling 30,000 men, and led them to meet the Sui army.

(End of this chapter)