Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Changing Kyushu Island to Yingzhou is only the first step. Although the governor will also be arranged, it is actually more like an overseas territory.

Because it is difficult to govern at the grassroots level, it is necessary to rely on the original local powerful forces.

In Japan at this time, the legal system had not completely collapsed, and the daimyo system had not been completely formed.

To explain it in a simple way, the Japanese imperial court sent officials to govern the counties, but the officials often did not go to their posts in person and stayed at the center to enjoy life and pursue power. They sent their confidants to govern the county on their behalf, but the officials who carried out the actual administration were local powerful people. The local powerful were also in disarray, controlling large and small samurai groups.

The Ming Dynasty's early governance of Yingzhou basically changed the soup without changing the medicine. The governor and commanders were all based in Fukuoka, and at most they managed Nagasaki Port personally. The rest of the territory was all handed over to the original powerful people of Kyushu Island.

In the future, wherever gold, silver, and copper mines are discovered, the magistrate of Yingzhou will send people to manage the mines, and the commander will send a small number of troops to garrison the mines.

When the number of mines in Yingzhou increases, the administrative divisions will be changed - the governor-general of Yingzhou and Iwami will be merged, and Tsushima Island will also be merged.

No matter which governance method is used, promoting Chineseization and encouraging immigration will not change.

Japan, like Korea, uses Chinese characters even though they don't understand the language, which is extremely beneficial to Chineseization.

As for hiragana and katakana, they are not yet on the table.

Katakana is equivalent to the Japanese phonetic notation of Chinese characters, and there is no unified standard yet. It will take hundreds of years to develop and mature.

Hiragana was originally a pinyin character used exclusively by Japanese women. About a hundred years ago, with the popularity of "The Tale of Genji", it gradually became familiar to Japanese men. However, it can only be used to write popular books, and official documents and historical books must use Chinese characters.

The first step taken by Ming officials to promote sinicization in Yingzhou was to ban the use of hiragana and temporarily allow the use of katakana to phoneticize Chinese characters.

While Taira Kiyomori killed the Genji brothers, he also recognized another branch of the Genji family in the East.

If Genji can't kill them all, he must make a compromise.

Immediately afterwards, with the support of the Ming court, Taira Kiyomori supported Kenhito (Emperor Sotoku) as the king of Japan. He abolished the king's government and established a shogunate to rule the country.

As for Tikihito (Emperor Konoe) who was plagued by all kinds of diseases, he was directly abolished.

Instead of establishing an heir apparent (Japanese crown prince) for the time being, Taira Kiyomori married one of his sisters to the king in the hope of giving birth to an heir to inherit the throne.

After completing this series of operations, Taira Kiyomori was completely in control of the court, and all the ministers who dared to jump out were eliminated by him.

Then, in the name of the shogun, he sent his cronies to serve as governors of various counties, at least superficially controlling the local power in Japan.

It was not until this time that Taira Kiyomori asked the Japanese king to announce that in order to thank the Ming Dynasty for saving the Japanese nation, the entire Saikaidō (Kyushu and surrounding islands) of Japan would be dedicated to the Ming Emperor.

Yes, this is a land donation by the Japanese king, not a cessation of land by the shogun!

As soon as the news came out, public opinion was in an uproar.

But the Ming army was stationed in Ping'an Jing, and no one dared to raise troops to Luo Qingjun's side. Several ministers were angry and wrote poems to express their dissatisfaction, and were soon executed by Pingqing Shengluo Zhi.

Xu Liangyou continued to stay in Ping'an Jing and sent 500 sergeants under his command to Fukuoka to protect the Yingzhou officials who were about to take office.

On the other side of Fukuoka, Chikuzen Province Moridai, before the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty could pass by, he ran away after searching for his belongings - he was originally an acting official and did not have much real power in Chizen Province, so it was normal for him to rush back to Heian Kyo to enjoy his blessings.

In midsummer, Chao Ruogu, the magistrate of Yingzhou, arrived in Fukuoka and entered the state city under the protection of the army.

The next day, local powerful Harada Nakashige was summoned.

"My lord... I pay my respects to the governor!" Harada Nakashige didn't know how to call himself.

Chao Ruogu had a kind attitude and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, just sit down and talk."

After hearing the translation, Harada Nakashige quickly thanked him.

Chao Ruogu asked: "Can you speak Chinese?"

Harada Nakashige said: "Omin originally served in the Chikuzen Government Office. Ming merchants often came and went in Hakata Port, and some Ming merchants from Zhejiang and Shandong even opened shops and stayed there. Therefore, I can understand some Ming official dialect, but can only Listen, not very good at speaking.”

"You should still learn Ming Dynasty Mandarin." Chao Ruogu said.

Harada Nakashige immediately stated: "Young people must study hard."

Chao Ruogu asked again: "I heard from merchants in the Ming Dynasty that you only changed your surname to Harada twenty years ago?"

Harada Nakashige said: "Exactly. My family was originally a direct descendant of the Ozo clan. When our ancestors served as generals in the Western Conquest, they moved to settle here in Chizen Country."

Chao Ruogu took out a copy of "Japanese Secretary": "I don't know much about Japan. I read "Japanese Secretary" on the way to my post. But I didn't expect that there are many people of Han descent in Japan, and the Ozo clan is one of them."

The Harada family belongs to the direct line of the Ozo family and has always had a genealogy. In the 21st century, they are still worshiping the ancestors of the Liu family.

Harada Nakashige said: "The ancestor of my family is A Zhigong, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, he brought two thousand people to Japan. First he changed his surname to Sakagami, and then changed his surname to Ozo. My branch changed its surname to Harada twenty years ago. "

Chao Ruogu's smile suddenly disappeared and he asked with a straight face: "Since you are a descendant of the Liu family, why do you take the surname Yi?"

Harada Nakashige was startled and hurriedly explained: "It's God...the King of Japan gave me the surname, I really don't dare to disobey it."

Chao Ruogu said: "This is no longer the West Sea Road of Japan, but Yingzhou of the Ming Dynasty. Do you still want to use the surname Yi?"

Harada Nakamao said: "I dare not. The Harada clan will immediately change the surname of the ancestor. From now on, the common people will no longer be Harada Nakamao, but Liu Nakamao!"

The ancestor of the Ozaki clan in Japan is very clear, that is, Liu Azhi, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Xian of Han.

In addition to the Ozaki clan, there are dozens of other surnames that are also descendants of Liu Azhi, most of whom were given surnames by the Japanese emperor after their meritorious service.

They moved here in the tenth year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty. Liu Azhi brought his son, uncle, clansmen, and more than 2,000 slaves to Japan and was directly appointed as a court official.

Moreover, Liu Azhi and Liu Duhe, father and son, also went to conduct diplomatic activities with Sun Wu as Japanese envoys-this estimated year record is wrong.

Chao Ruogu smiled again and became amiable again: "Since you are a descendant of China, you should be given important positions. The court plans to change Chikuzen Province to Fukuoka Prefecture. How about you be the first Fukuoka County Magistrate?"

Harada... No, it was Liu Zhongmao who opened his mouth wide, as if he had picked up a 5 million lottery jackpot on the road.

After coming to his senses, Liu Zhongmao immediately ran to kneel down: "Thank you for your appreciation, Governor. I will definitely be loyal to the Ming Dynasty!"

This kind of county magistrate is a local county magistrate, not a real official. In the Ming Dynasty, he is at most a first-class official.

When the news that Harada changed his surname back to Liu and was appointed as a county magistrate came out, countless descendants of the Chinese suddenly appeared in Yingzhou.

One by one, they rushed to Hakata Port as quickly as possible with their freshly baked family tree, and bought Ming Dynasty clothes at the port to wear, hoping that their new identity could be recognized by the prefect.

There were even many fights along the way. The tyrants in the same place killed each other or delayed their competitors to ensure that they could see the prefect first.

They haven't read much Chinese history books, and they are not even familiar with the Nihon Shoki. Their genealogy is full of loopholes.

Yingzhou, Fukuoka Prefecture, Hakata City.

"Your Kikuchi clan seems to be a descendant of the Fujiwara clan, right?" Liu Zhongmao laughed.

It has only been a month since he changed his surname from Harada to Liu, but he already considers himself a descendant of the Chinese, and regards other powerful people as Japanese barbarians.

Those small surnames come to make trouble, but the Kikuchi clan was separated from the Fujiwara clan more than a hundred years ago!

The descendants of the emperor's close relatives actually said that their ancestors migrated from China.

Who the hell believes it?

Yingzhou Zhizhou Chao Ruogu believed it and pointed out the loopholes in his genealogy: "According to the year of your genealogy, they moved to Japan 542 years ago. It was not the Tang Dynasty, but the Sui Dynasty. It needs to be revised."

The head of the Kikuchi family, who has changed his name to Li Yixin and claimed to be a descendant of Li Tang, hurriedly explained: "After hundreds of years away from his homeland, most of the mistakes in the genealogy were made when it was copied."

Chao Ruogu nodded and smiled: "It is a great virtue to know one's mistakes and correct them."

Li Yixin put on a tearful expression and squeezed out a few tears: "The Kikuchi family has remembered the teachings of their ancestors for generations and has always wanted to return to China. Now we have finally fulfilled the wishes of our ancestors. Even if I die today, I have the face to go to the underworld to see my ancestors. Woo woo woo..."

Liu Zhongmao rolled his eyes and looked down on these guys even more. I am the real descendant of the Chinese Miao people, and you are all pretending to be Japanese slaves!

In any case, this family, which was separated from the Fujiwara clan more than a hundred years ago, was recognized by the governor and became a descendant of Li Tang. And he also became a county magistrate, with jurisdiction in the Kumamoto area of ​​Japan.

The two left the state government, Liu Zhongmao walked in front with his head held high, and Li Yixin followed behind timidly. Their status was completely reversed from before.

When Li Yixin was still named Kikuchi, many powerful families in Kyushu Island were inferior to him. After all, they have the blood of the Japanese royal family!

But now he feels guilty. Li Yixin knows that he is a fake. Liu Zhongmao is definitely the real thing, and "Japanese Shoki" clearly writes it.

After walking for a while, Li Yixin said to Liu Zhongmao: "Mr. Liu, please stay. I have prepared some small gifts."

Liu Zhongmao smiled and praised: "You are quite sensible."

Li Yixin said: "From now on, Mr. Liu and I are both Ming officials, and we should take care of each other. Mr. Liu is a close minister of the prefect, and I hope you can say a few good words to me."

"No problem." Liu Zhongmao became more and more proud.

The salaries of the two were issued by the court in Ming coins. They must have been corrupt in private, and even bullied the people, but the prefect Chao Ruogu was too lazy to care, as long as they paid the full amount of taxes.

Even if some taxes were in arrears, the prefect could forgive them, as long as they didn't default every year, which would affect the prestige of the court.

Chao Ruogu came to be the prefect, and his main task was to explore and mine mines.

At that time, these county magistrates from powerful families would have to help recruit people as miners. If there is any civil unrest, as long as it is not too serious, the tyrants can handle it themselves, and there is no need for the Ming army to suppress it personally.

Moreover, the tyrants appointed as county magistrates can definitely produce the "Chinese genealogy". If they want to continue to abuse their power, they must maintain their new identity and spontaneously change their family into Ming clothing.

They will regard themselves as descendants of Huaxia Miao and take the initiative to help promote Hanization, thereby influencing other tyrants and the people.

If the local area is really angered by heaven and people, then it will be severely punished. In history, the teenage Minamoto no Tametomo pulled together a group of country warriors and beat these guys to ask the emperor for help. Are the elite of the Ming Dynasty afraid that they can't punish them?

Anyway, bad things are done by illegal tyrants, and the Ming court and government will always be benevolent and love the people!