In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In November of the seventh year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, it was already the end of the year, and the court began to shift its focus from the development of various industries to statistics.

Each department began to collect data from its own departments in full swing, and the Statistics Department also moved into each department to calculate whether the planning of each department this year had reached the target.

Although data cannot represent everything, it can intuitively show the development speed of a country and the current living conditions of the vast majority of people.

Strictly speaking, the Song Dynasty cannot be said to be an industrial country now, but should be regarded as a semi-industrial and semi-agricultural country.

Because the main pillar industries at present are still agriculture and handicraft manufacturing.

Although the steel industry has been laid out for a long time, it has only developed on a large scale in the past two years, and many places are in the planning and construction period.

It will take at least several years for all roads and states to have a certain amount of steel industry.

As for other textile and construction industries, they are also in a state of spreading from Bianliang to other roads. It will take time to fully roll out.

Therefore, the current industrial output value of the Song Dynasty is not high, which is still a negligible point compared to the huge agricultural and handicraft manufacturing industries.

But a spark can start a prairie fire.

Now is the construction period. When the rapid development period comes, for example, the first batch of rubber trees mature and everything is on the right track, then the industrial capacity will directly start to leap.

While the Song Dynasty was booming, the surrounding countries were in a very bad situation.

Xixia wanted to send envoys to pay tribute and surrender, but the Song Dynasty refused. Even the envoys were not allowed to go to Bianliang, let alone peace talks.

The Liao Kingdom was defeated and returned. Yelu Zongzhen did not survive the winter after all. He died of illness in October. Yelu Chongyuan ascended the throne and is now overwhelmed by the domestic situation.

After the restoration of the Vietnamese Le Dynasty with the help of the Song Dynasty, due to the lack of popular support, the uprisings continued, putting Vietnam in a stage of serious internal consumption.

Qingtang has now completely surrendered to the Song Dynasty. Xiazhen was given the surname Zhao. All his family members moved to Bianliang to become nobles of the Song Dynasty. The Hehuang Valley has now been changed to six prefectures such as Xiningzhou and Huangzhou.

The rest of the Uighurs, Tubo, Black Khan, Pagan and other countries either lived their own lives or sent envoys to the Song Dynasty to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty. Some even had internal strife and were exhausted.

The only relatively peaceful country was the Dali Kingdom.

The Dali Kingdom had always adopted a policy of being close to the Song Dynasty. The domestic political power was controlled by the Prime Minister Gao family, and the king was in a weak position.

But since the fourth year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty and the first year of the Tianming period of Dali, the Gao family abolished the licentious and immoral Dali King Duan Suxing, and there was a political turmoil.

Most of the time, Dali was stable, and it had been maintaining political and trade exchanges with the Song Dynasty through the ancient tea-horse road.

Under such circumstances, Dali was quite prosperous, without disasters or rebellion, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, a peaceful and harmonious scene.

This can be regarded as finding a good big brother, and life is worry-free.

As for Japan.

In recent years, Japan has been semi-forced by the Song Dynasty to open its doors and open the Iwami Port, and the domestic economy has collapsed.

A large number of handicrafts were impacted by the handicraft manufacturing industry of Song Dynasty. Many craftsmen lost their jobs, were hired by Song Dynasty merchants, or moved to other places. The overall economic situation was controlled by Song Dynasty.

In addition, many local nobles and state governors were in a semi-independent state. They only needed to pay tribute to the central government every year, and they were lawless in their own places.

This led to various contradictions between the central and local governments. With the Taira Masakado Rebellion in the past and the Taira Tadatsune Rebellion in the future, Japan had already seen signs of civil unrest.

However, the only good news is that the stability of the lower class in the country is still good.

Affected by the manor economy, most of the lower-class civilians are serfs of local nobles and dignitaries. Just like the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the lower-class people were trapped in the manor and controlled by the master. Basically, there was no possibility of independent uprising and rebellion.

In addition, the Song Dynasty not only exported industrial products to Japan, but also exported surplus food. Foods such as sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes that were commonly used as feed in the Song Dynasty could become staple food when sold to Japan.

Because of this situation, the lower class in Japan is unlikely to resist.

But at the same time, the trade between local Japanese nobles and the Song Dynasty would increase their strength. These nobles and local forces with manors had people, food and weapons, which would naturally pose a threat to the rule of the emperor and the Fujiwara family.

Among them, the most powerful were the Abe clan in Mutsu Province and the Kiyohara clan in Dewa Province.

Mutsu Province was located in the northeastern region of Japan, which was the area of ​​Iwate Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan in the future. Dewa Province was located in the northern region of Japan, which was Akita Prefecture in Japan in the future.

Since these two places were places where Japan exiled prisoners and captured Ainu people in ancient times, many prisoners were imprisoned.

The managers of these prisoners were called prisoner chiefs.

The Abe clan and the Kiyohara clan were the prisoner chiefs of the two countries, in charge of the life and death of these captive criminals, so these two nobles were the most powerful families in the two countries.

At this moment, on the morning of November 9, the seventh year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, Abe Yoriyoshi, the head of the Abe clan, was entertaining a guest in his own castle mansion in Oroku County, Mutsu Province.

The guest's name was Kiyohara Takeshi, and he was the head of the Kiyohara clan in the neighboring Dewa Province.

In history, the imperial court attacked the Abe clan, and the Abe clan defeated Fujiwara no Tomokazu, the governor of the local Mutsu Province. The Fujiwara clan then sent Minamoto no Yoriyoshi to fight against the Abe clan.

Although the Abe clan was not doing well in the initial battles, and even Abe Yoriyoshi himself was shot and killed, his two sons subsequently stabilized the situation and launched a counterattack against Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, almost defeating him.

In the end, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi sent someone to contact Kiyohara Takeshi, who sent Kiyohara’s army to help Minamoto no Yoriyoshi defeat the Abe clan and occupy the Abe clan’s territory, becoming a powerful family in Dewa and Mutsu.

This was the process of the first nine years of the war.

In the next three years of the war, the Kiyohara family itself had an internal struggle for power, so Minamoto no Yoshiie, the son of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, intervened in the internal struggle between the two sides, pacified the Kiyohara clan in one fell swoop, and completely occupied Mutsu.

Therefore, it stands to reason that the Kiyohara clan also coveted the Abe clan’s territory and was unlikely to become his ally.

However, there are exceptions to everything.

This exception is the Song State power behind the Abe clan.

To be precise, it should be the Song State arms seller behind the Abe clan.

Although the Ani Mine was discovered in Dewa, it contains huge gold, silver and copper deposits.

But the problem is that Ajin Ore is not an open-pit mine, which is difficult to mine. It is definitely impossible to mine in large quantities in a short period of time.

Therefore, although the Kiyohara clan is very ambitious, they cannot make a quick profit from it.

On the other hand, Mutsu Province is different. Since the Nara period, Mutsu Province has been a famous gold, silver and copper mining area in Japan.

And most of them are open-pit mines, which are easy to mine.

There are a large number of people and a large number of plains concentrated here, which makes it very easy to accumulate power and establish a separatist regime.

Therefore, the Kiyohara clan and the Minamoto clan want to seize this place and become the foundation of the family's prosperity.

In this context, Song merchants are naturally more willing to do business with the Abe clan, who is generous and has mines at home.

The only problem is that Song merchants are mainly concentrated in the Iwami area in western Japan. To go to Mutsu Province where the Abe clan is located by land, you have to pass through ten countries and a distance of one thousand kilometers.

If you go by sea, it will be even farther. You have to cross the Tsugaru Strait and go around between Hokkaido and Honshu Island.

Therefore, transportation is very inconvenient.

Until a few years ago, gold mines were discovered on Sado Island, an island west of Echigo Province, and a large number of Song merchants gathered there, giving the Abe family an opportunity.

The Abe family immediately reached an agreement with the Kiyohara family of Dewa Province and the governor of Echigo Province, Tachibana Tame-naka.

The Abe family's carriages would carry gold, silver, copper and other minerals to the ports of Dewa Province and Echigo Province to trade with the Song people, and the Kiyohara family and Tachibana Tame-naka would receive a certain proportion of taxes.

In this way, everyone would benefit, and they gradually formed an alliance.

Today, Abe Yoriyoshi invited Kiyohara Takeshi to come over to discuss the matter of establishing himself as a king and becoming a hegemon.

The Abe family lived in the Okuroku County of Danzawa Castle. It was called a city, but in fact the outer wall was just a circle of earth walls, and there were small and cramped wooden houses everywhere in the city.

Only the Abe family had a slightly larger Tang Dynasty-style courtyard.

It was not high, because the Japanese were short, and the average height in the Heian period was about 1.5 meters, so the courtyard was only more than three meters high.

Even so, it was already a super big house for Abe Raiyoshi and Kiyohara Takeshi, two 1.5-meter-tall dwarfs.

At this moment, the two of them were sitting cross-legged, with a maid next to them preparing tea for them, which they had learned from the Tang Dynasty. The various flowers and plants in the courtyard outside the house were also trimmed with horticultural techniques learned from the Tang Dynasty, which was magnificent.

"Abe-dono is worthy of being the head of the first noble family in Mutsu. The courtyard at home is magnificent, and it has the style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

Kiyohara Takeshi looked at the courtyard with a bit of envy.

Although he was also a noble family in Dewa Province, Dewa Province was not as good as Mutsu Province in terms of population, territory, or money, so he naturally did not have the strength to build such a big house.

"Kiyohara-dono, you are joking. Compared with you, I am still far behind."

Abe Raiyoshi personally brought the tea to Kiyohara Takeshi, then waved his hand, and the maid bowed and left.

After the maid left, Abe Yoriyoshi said, "I wonder what Kiyohara-dono thinks of the current situation in the court?"

Kiyohara Takeshi was very secretive and said, "How can we talk about the situation in the court?"

Abe Yoriyoshi smiled and said, "The court is unjust and demands too much. Every year, my Mutsu pays a lot of tribute, and everyone is miserable."

Kiyohara Takeshi hurriedly said, "Please be careful with your words."

Compared to Abe Yoriyoshi's audacity, he dared not speak nonsense.

After all, Abe Yoriyoshi did not rebel openly now, but just paid less tribute or simply did not pay it under various excuses.

The court has not yet identified him as a traitor, so Kiyohara Takeshi will deal with him.

Otherwise, I am afraid he will have to judge the situation.

"There's nothing to be afraid of."

Abe Yoriyoshi said calmly: "This is the fact, can't people say the fact?"

Qiyohara Takeshi smiled and said: "Abe-dono has a strong army and horses, and his men have Tang people's weapons and armor. Naturally, he has the courage to compete with the court."

"I just don't know if Kiyohara-dono intends to purchase Tang people's weapons and armor."

Abe Yoriyoshi said.

"Oh?"

Qiyohara Takeshi immediately became interested and asked: "Abe-dono is willing to introduce Tang people to me?"

The Tang people they are talking about are actually merchants from the Song Dynasty.

Although the upper class of Japan does not have official exchanges with the Song Dynasty, they have more channels of information and naturally know that the Central Plains dynasty has long changed from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.

But the lower class and the lower middle class of Japan are relatively closed to the news, or even if they know that the dynasty has changed now, they still call them Tang people because of their old habits.

Just like the country of Japan called itself Japan as early as the reign of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty, which was recorded in the "New Book of Tang", but the people of the Central Plains Dynasty would not say that they were Japanese, but would still habitually call them Wa people.

Only Zhao Jun, a later generation, did not call them Wa people because of habit, but Japanese.

"It depends on whether Qingyuandian is interested."

Abe Raiyoshi said.

Qingyuan Takeshi immediately showed a thoughtful expression.

He naturally understood what Abe Raiyoshi meant.

The Abe family is a big family in Mutsu, but it is not the master of Mutsu.

At least in name, Mutsu is governed by the governor Fujiwara no Toru, who lacks a righteous name.

Once the court deprives him of his official status as the head of the prisoner, then the Abe family will have only two ways to go.

One is to fall from the high and mighty head of the prisoner overnight and become an ordinary civilian.

The second is to rebel and revolt, to establish a separatist regime, and to truly become the master of Mutsu.

Obviously, the fact that the Abe family has stopped paying tribute in recent years means that they are going to take the second path.

But as a local noble family, it is still too weak compared to the imperial court.

Even if the Abe family has thousands of soldiers and horses, and is definitely the first echelon among the powerful people in the country, it is impossible to be an enemy of the imperial court.

So he must have external aid.

If they can drag the Kiyohara family into the water, with the strength of the two families, they dare not say that they can enter Heian-kyo and replace the Fujiwara family.

It is not a problem to split Dewa and Mutsu and become a local prince.

If there is the support of the Song Kingdom behind them and give them enough weapons and equipment, then it is possible to do bigger things.

The question now is whether Kiyohara Takeshi is willing to board his pirate ship.

Kiyohara Takeshi pondered for a long time, and then whispered: "I want to know how many weapons and armors the Tang people have?"

"Mr. Lu, my friend wants to know how many armors you have."

Abe Raiyoshi looked at the screen behind him.

A figure emerged from behind the screen and said with a smile, "As many as you want."

Qingyuan Wu looked over and saw a tall figure wearing a silk dress, one and a half heads taller than him, like a giant.

Although this person spoke fairly fluent Japanese, it was obvious that he was a Tang person.

Because Qingyuan Wu had seen several Song merchants before, and those people were generally one or two heads taller than him, but few Japanese were so tall.

"Who is this?"

Qingyuan Wu asked.

"My name is Lu Chao, and I'm just an ordinary Song merchant."

The 1.72-meter-tall Lu Chao, who looked like a little giant in front of the two of them, looked down at them with a kind smile.

He looked like an adult meeting two children.