Chapter 836: The Branded Convict Soldiers of the Heian Era

The Heian period was an extremely important era for the land of Wa.

If one says that the later shogunate period shaped Japan's samurai class and completed the final fixing of its culture, then the Heian period was the era that laid the foundation of Japanese culture.

The cultural temperament that later Japan displayed — completely unlike its neighbor Joseon Korea, which styled itself as the Little Central Florescence, and independent to a certain degree — was established during the Heian period.

This era's influence on later Japan's politics, economy, social life, and culture and art was enormous; in culture and art especially, calling it utterly unique would not be an overstatement.

However, whenever a dynasty is especially emphasized for its economy and culture and art, that means in other respects — particularly martial prowess — there is really not much worth praising.

Isn't that right, Great Song.

Of course, our great land of the Wa people is the same.

During the Heian period, power in the land of Wa constantly shifted between the emperor and the maternal-relatives noble families.

At the same time, Buddhist religious forces also held vast amounts of land and maintained private soldiers, and by the late Heian period they had even become a powerful force capable of threatening secular rule.

As for the samurai class that would hold great power in the shogunate era, at this time they were still nothing more than tools used by the emperor and the great noble families in their struggles for power and profit.

What does this kind of political atmosphere fear most? It fears most an outsider suddenly emerging as a third force and overturning their existing rules of the game and ways of play.

It is like the Eastern Han struggle between outer relatives and eunuchs: once a local power-holder with troops entered the game, it immediately became unplayable.

Therefore, during the Heian period, whether it was the emperor, the Fujiwara family regent, or the later cloistered emperor's rule, externally they implemented a strict policy of national seclusion and non-intercourse.

They not only abolished the missions to Tang, but even after Wang Geon of Goryeo established his kingdom and wanted to go and exchange pleasantries with the land of Wa, the Wa people very rudely left him on read.

Internally, the emperor, the cloistered emperor, and the court nobles all deliberately suppressed the gradually strengthening samurai class, refusing to let these crude fellows who only knew how to swing swords and cut people down at the slightest provocation attain any high status.

They even indulged temple warrior-monks to divide and suppress the samurai class.

In general, the Heian period for Japan was a Great Song that arrived early.

The ruling class cruelly exploited those below, the court nobles (mainly civil officials) lived in drunken dreams, and the common people at the very bottom lived as if in hell.

But at the same time, the economy developed rapidly, culture and art flourished, and handicrafts, after absorbing large amounts of advanced technology brought back by the missions to Tang, underwent earth-shaking changes.

The extreme suffering of the bottom-level poor peasants and the boundless extravagance of the great nobles instead allowed the urban commoner class of the large cities to benefit more or less.

Therefore, if one did not look at the countryside and only looked at a few large cities, one could even barely call it a golden age.

And beneath this seemingly passable situation, the newly rising local small manor lords and the warrior groups gradually gaining control of the sword were firmly suppressed at the very bottom of the ruling class, their status even lower than the warrior-monks of the Buddhist temples.

This — this is completely inverted from the Central Plains!

In the Central Plains, first came the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, when brutal warriors held power, and then the whole of society collectively turned toward valuing the civil and slighting the martial.

In the land of Wa, first came valuing the civil and slighting the martial, and only after the warriors could no longer bear it and overthrew the court nobles did a society form in which the samurai class held great power.

This single inversion directly led to the utterly different fates of the two countries a thousand years later.

If in the nineteenth century the Western powers had faced a China where warriors were not regarded as branded convict soldiers but as heroes, then with China's size, it could have fielded three to five hundred thousand semi-modern troops, and even if the Europeans had thrown everything they had at it, they could not have gnawed it down.

Murong Xinzhang came to the area around Busan Harbor in the tenth month to inspect it. At this time, Busan Harbor was still only a small port with a population of no more than a few hundred, surrounded by desolation.

Historically, it would not become the Korean Peninsula's greatest port until the Joseon period.

The reason Murong Xinzhang had come here was certainly not because he knew Busan would later undergo great development, but because this bay, sheltered by high mountains and screened by an archipelago, and relatively close to the land of Wa, was a very suitable logistics base for the conquest of Wa.

Thanks to the land of Wa's own policy of national seclusion, Murong Xinzhang was easily able to conceal the news that Goryeo had already basically been destroyed.

When the surprise attack was launched next year, those fools in Heian-kyo would surely be completely stunned.

The clatter of horse hooves rang out. Escorted by ten white-robed, silver-saddled Zhaoyi Gentlemen, Zhao Pu, Academician of the Hanlin Academy in the Secretariat and Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, appeared before everyone's eyes wearing a blue side-slit robe.

Still thirty paces away, Zhao Pu reined in his horse and came forward on foot to pay his respects to Murong Xinzhang, addressing him as "My King" and treating Murong Xinzhang the way a subject treats his sovereign.

"Zhao Pu, I did not expect Imperial Father would be willing to send you. I have no more worries!" Seeing Zhao Pu so respectful, Murong Xinzhang was naturally very satisfied.

Everyone knew that Zhao Pu was a trusted aide whom the Sage had raised up from humble beginnings, and that this man was somewhat combative by nature, always carrying a faint trace of arrogance toward officials of equal or even slightly higher rank.

That he was willing to treat Murong Xinzhang with such deference today was proof enough of Murong Xinzhang's standing in the heart of his adoptive father, the Sage.

Although Zhao Pu was combative, he was a man with a strong sense of self-awareness. Murong Xinzhang was now a great Buddha in the Great Zhou whom no one could afford to offend.

Although Zhao Pu could not understand why the Sage and Son of Heaven placed such importance on conquering Goryeo and Wa, he understood the simple principle that whomever the Sage valued, he should respect.

On this side, before Zhao Pu could answer, Murong Xinzhang strode forward several steps and helped Zhao Pu to his feet. "Did the Sage have any words he wanted you to bring to admonish me?"

Zhao Pu bowed once more and answered with a smile: "The Sage said nothing else, only that the Great King will surely remember the agreement between father and son."

Murong Xinzhang sighed with deep emotion. "Imperial Father's vision is far-reaching, beyond what ordinary men can reach. Please tell Imperial Father not to worry. Xinzhang will complete his charge no matter what."

What could Zhang Zhao have charged Murong Xinzhang with? Nothing more than to compare the land of Wa to the old Goguryeo.

And he had plainly told Murong Xinzhang that he did not care whether his son Xinzhang carved out a domain for himself in Wa, nor whether Murong Xinzhang's descendants would cease paying tribute to the Central Plains.

Zhang Zhao, this father, had spent a fortune to send Murong Xinzhang to Goryeo and Wa to be king, and his sole requirement was that he eradicate the independent cultures already beginning to form in these two places, as well as the independent consciousness that would soon emerge.

As long as Murong Xinzhang could transform the customs of these two places and ultimately make them no different from the Central Plains, that would be a merit as great as heaven.

Once the Central Plains' population flourished and millions were migrated to each of these two places, then Chinese culture in East Asia would truly have nothing left to worry about.

Against such a grand backdrop, everything else was a minor detail. No matter how things changed, the meat would still be stewing in the same pot.

And the reason Zhao Pu had come to Goryeo was that Murong Xinzhang had requested him from Zhang Zhao.

The good eldest son hoped Zhang Zhao could send a capable official to Hanseong to help him handle administrative affairs for the time being.

Because in the coming period, Murong Xinzhang needed to concentrate his energy at Busan Harbor, gathering cavalry and infantry, drilling the navy, and waiting for next year's conquest of Wa.

In the plans of Zhang Zhao and Murong Xin, Wa was certainly the top priority, with priority far above Goryeo. After the conquest of Wa, Murong Xinzhang would surely take up residence in Heian-kyo.

Moreover, Wa was not as easy to conquer as Goryeo, because Goryeo's population was mostly concentrated on a few plains along the west coast.

One or two decisive battles between main forces could resolve most of the problems, and then killing off one batch of nobles, exiling another batch, and recruiting yet another batch would basically stabilize the overall situation.

Wa was different. It was large, with many manors and stockades, and its sense of autonomy far surpassed that of Goryeo, where even the royal Wang family had to claim Han descent to outsiders.

This war of conquest against Wa was destined to be a small-scale but high-intensity war lasting several years or even more than ten years, not to mention the Kanto region, which still needed to be developed as a forward base for the Eastern Pūrvavideha Continent.

Therefore, Murong Xinzhang prepared to stay around Busan Harbor from now on to prepare for the conquest of Wa, and thereafter planned to move the capital to Heian-kyo.

As for Goryeo, Murong Xinzhang left Zhao Kuangyin with fifteen thousand cavalry and infantry to garrison Hanseong and guard against a small number of diehards causing trouble, while Zhao Pu was appointed Right Chancellor of the State of Yan, responsible for handling administrative affairs.

As for the future, if no major changes occurred, the good eldest son planned, after his own passing, to divide this State of Yan of his into two.

He would give Goryeo to the second son in Lady Hu's womb, and have that second son take as his empress the daughter born of his younger sister, Princess of Qi Zhang Qinan, and Pei Quanfu, son of Pei Yuan.

Princess of Qi, Zhang Qinan, was the eldest daughter of Empress Cao Yanxi and the full cousin of Murong Xinzhang.

The good eldest son had always regretted that he was not of Zhang Zhao's bloodline, but if he could have his son marry the granddaughter of his aunt and adoptive father, that would in some measure fulfill his dream.

As for Japan, of course it was to be left to his eldest son, Hutou.

In truth, Korea and Japan were not so completely sealed off that not even a breath of wind could pass between them.

Just as when Murong Xinzhang had blockaded Andong and Goryeo years before, almost no people or goods could move across, yet there was still one kind of person who could carry on infrequent exchanges.

That was the monks.

Kneeling before Murong Xinzhang now were three monks from Japan.

In this era, the kanpaku of Japan had sealed the sea routes to Goryeo; without permission, not a single ship could leave any port, great or small.

The sole exception was the monks, who possessed private ports.

These three monks had sailed from a private port on Iki in northern Kyushu and arrived off the coast of Bushan.

The lead monk gave his dharma name as Pingtong, from Todai-ji in Heijo-kyo. The three had come to Bushan specifically to see Murong Xinzhang for one purpose: to request aid.

The reason was simple. In Japanese Buddhism at this time, the mass-oriented Ikko sect had not yet appeared, and the monk Yanshou, one of the founders of the White Lotus Sect, had only just set out across the vast waters toward North America with a bellyful of resolve.

The remaining sects—Huayan, Tiantai, and the rest—were no different from those in the Central Plains: all mountain Buddhism.

"Mountain Buddhism" was a later generalization; broadly speaking, it referred to Buddhist orders that built their temples deep in famous mountains and great rivers.

But in Japan at this time, the Buddhist establishment, under the direct control of the court nobles, already possessed its own lands, its own armed forces, and could even collect rents and taxes from the various provinces and districts itself.

You would tell such Buddhist powers to go build temples deep in famous mountains and great rivers? Would they be willing?

Therefore, although the Buddhism of the Central Plains had the blessing of great masters like Jianzhen and Kukai, it was destined never to flourish in Japan, because it completely ran counter to Japan's political climate.

In the end, historically, Japanese Buddhism merged with Shinto and bushido, and lost its dominant religious position.

The few that survived into later ages were mostly heavily distorted; the only ones that remained basically intact had empty reputations and little visible faith.

But at this moment, the ambitious monks of Japan saw another Buddhist sect that could change their fate: the Six Dharma Sect.

The Six Dharma Sect was excellent! It did not exalt famous mountains and great rivers; its whole principle was to side with kin over reason. Chant one "Boundless Heaven" and you were brothers. To its own people it showed great mercy and compassion; to enemies it readily administered physical deliverance.

Although the Six Dharma Sect was stuffed with a great deal of Confucian thought—for instance, the Gongyang school's emphasis on the great vendetta and the Guliang school's emphasis on great righteousness and reverence for the king had both been kneaded into it.

But the older Huayan and Tiantai sects had likewise absorbed a great deal of Central Plains culture. What did it matter?

This doctrine was too great a temptation for Japanese Buddhism, so the monk Pingtong did not bother to test Murong Xinzhang at all, but directly stated his demand.

If Murong Xinzhang, after conquering Japan, was willing to take half of the seven circuits and sixty-six provinces and enfeoff them to Japanese Buddhism, making the temples de facto vassals, they were willing to act as his agents within.

And they would acknowledge Murong Xinzhang as the reincarnation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva; all the Buddhist disciples and warrior-monks of Japan could then be used by Murong Xinzhang and become his followers.

Murong Xinzhang took the visiting card the monk had presented, and looked at the monk Pingtong with a cold smile. "Master, your understanding of the Six Dharma Sect seems to be only skin-deep!

My divine soul is this: the Buddha, fearing that Boundless Heaven could not contend with the heretics and demons of the lower world, commanded Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to relinquish his original fruition and descend with three-tenths of his divine power as the adopted son of Boundless Heaven, to aid Boundless Heaven in spreading and protecting the Dharma.

Whether Japanese Buddhism acknowledges it or not, the true position of my divine soul will not change in the slightest.

As for you—if you acknowledge it, you may perhaps be saved; if a single leaf blinds you and you fail to recognize your true lord, beware: even the Buddha has fire!"

By this point in the timeline, the good eldest son's temperament and state of mind had already undergone a tremendous change.

Before he entered Andong, utterly destroyed the Khitan, and stood on his own.

Murong Xinzhang had been a good eldest son and a fine commander who worshipped Zhang Zhao to the extreme and fought bravely.

He was the "Little Mengchang" in the hearts of all under heaven, Murong of the White Robe, whose righteousness reached the clouds.

He was the great hero who could stand at Shi Jingtang's funeral and rebuke Shi Chonggui to his face for his unfilial conduct.

But after these years of independent development, it was not that Murong Xinzhang's character had completely changed; rather, the dominance of a ruler of a nation and the pride born of bloodline and religion had gradually intensified in him.

No joke—once a small-scale Li Erfeng acquired divinity in a place thick with religious atmosphere, he was only a hair's breadth from leaving the category of ordinary mortals.

Therefore, in Murong Xinzhang's eyes, the only path for Japanese Buddhism was to welcome the royal army with baskets of food and pots of drink.

Through submission and allegiance, to gain the opportunity to seize power within the bounds he permitted.

Not to come here with a list of names and haggle with him.

"Does the Master take me, Murong Xinzhang, for a three-year-old child? Even Heijo-kyo is to belong to you? If that is so, why should I cross the sea and dispatch a great army? I might as well stay here in Korea and govern these two thousand li of rivers and mountains."

Wang Pu looked at Murong Xinzhang with some concern; he greatly feared Murong Xinzhang would fly into a rage and drive the Japanese monks away or put them to death.

As Murong Xinzhang's most trusted advisor, Wang Pu was one of the few who could clearly sense the changes in Murong Xinzhang.

However, hearing Murong Xinzhang speak thus, Wang Pu let out a long breath of relief inwardly.

This sort of matter was always a back-and-forth tug; as long as the road was not blocked at the very first step, there was room to talk.

The monk Pingtong looked at the furious Murong Xinzhang, and his thoughts were the same as Wang Pu's. Heijo-kyo—that is, Nara—they did indeed want very much.

Because Heijo-kyo represented the period Japanese Buddhism missed most; in those days they could even rise above the court nobles and influence state affairs to a considerable degree.

Unfortunately, after Emperor Kanmu moved the capital to Heian-kyo, Heijo-kyo, once famed as a city filled with temples, lost its political status, and Buddhism correspondingly lost its ability to influence the court.

"Korea is two thousand li of rivers and mountains, but my Land of the Rising Sun is five thousand li of rivers and mountains. Would a king ever disdain having too much land?

Moreover, without us, for the Bodhisattva to rule these five thousand li of rivers and mountains—not to say a fool's dream, it would be nearly impossible. But with our support, a mere ten or twenty thousand troops would suffice to unify the Land of the Rising Sun.

This poor monk asks only for half. Is that too much?"

Murong Xinzhang's heart stirred. He suddenly realized that the monk before him—indeed, one could say all the monks of Japan—had perhaps come into contact with the Six Dharma Sect and judged that Murong Xinzhang certainly intended to reach into Japan, but they did not know he was preparing to send troops to conquer it the very next year.

At the same time, the Japanese had not the slightest awareness of how ferocious the soldiers of Great Zhou truly were, so these monks had come only to make preliminary contact and prod Murong Xinzhang. They merely wanted to borrow his power, treating Murong Xinzhang as a helper.

Therefore, facing a helper, the monks asked only that the temples be turned into estates, the monks ennobled, and half the territory granted as a Buddhist realm. In their view, their side had already made an enormous concession.

So Murong Xinzhang immediately changed his attitude. He seemed to consider the matter seriously for a moment, then quickly shook his head.

"Master Pingtong, a monk must not speak falsely. The decline of Japanese Buddhism has not been a matter of a day or two. If I needed only to send ten or twenty thousand troops to accomplish the task, why would you offer me thirty-three provinces of territory?

I do have some small interest in spreading the Six Dharma Sect to Japan, but we still need to speak openly and frankly."

What Murong Xinzhang meant by this was that he had already seen through the monk before him as a mere pawn sent to test the waters—perhaps not even truly from Todai-ji—but even so, he still indicated a willingness to talk.

Sure enough, hearing Murong Xinzhang's words, the monk Pingtong said in fluent Tang-accented speech: "The Bodhisattva's wisdom sees truly. Once this humble monk returns, a truly eminent master will surely come to converse further with the Bodhisattva.

This humble monk can only say that the warriors of Japan suffer under the oppression of the court nobles just as we followers of the Buddha do."

The night was already deep. The three Wa monks, led by monks of the Six Dharma Sect arranged by Murong Xinzhang, went to a nearby temple to rest, while Murong Xinzhang remained in discussion with Wang Pu, Wang Jing, Gao Song, and the others.

Wang Pu was indeed a master strategist; working from extremely limited information, he had teased out a fairly credible thread.

"The Wa monks have certainly suffered great damage to their interests compared to the old days, but more than a hundred years have passed since then. They have not lost everything, and they have long grown accustomed to their present position. Therefore the likelihood of them rising up to make trouble is not high.

But the warriors of Wa — those have truly been ground down by oppression.

Ever since the Great Dynasty's battle at Baijiangkou in former years, which made the Wa people see clearly, high and low, that the military force they relied on was utterly useless before the Celestial Court of the Central Plains, Wa's military preparedness began to decline day by day.

For the King of Wa discovered that by sending envoys to the Great Tang and closely probing for news of the Great Tang, should trouble arise, these very envoys — no one else needed — would possess the ability, to a certain degree, to dispel the Great Tang's wrath.

At the same time, within Wa itself, they shut themselves off and put on a docile appearance, like a wolf cub that not only does not bite but is quite affectionate toward people.

Using deference and docility as cover, they did their utmost to stay out of the sight of the Great Tang's armies.

This policy was very successful. From then on, neither the court nor the people of the Great Tang ever regarded Wa as a threat, let alone sent troops against it.

But it also produced one grave consequence: the status of warriors began to plummet rapidly.

In my humble view, these people are not necessarily monks, because Wa's warriors and warrior-monks are distinct.

The warrior-monks have wealth and standing; the warriors have nothing. Therefore it is the latter who are most likely to make trouble.

They may not even have come from Heijō-kyō at all, but are warriors from Hizen Province in the Saikaidō, directly across from us, or from the two provinces of Nagato and Iwami in the San'indō."

In Wa, a kuni does not mean a country, but a province or commandery, roughly equivalent to a prefecture, while a dō is equivalent to a province.

The Saikaidō is where the island of Kyushu lies, and the San'indō is the side of the island of Honshu facing the mainland.

Murong Xinzhang paced back and forth twice, then said: "Wenbo speaks reason. The monks of the Kinai region hold relatively high status, and their mutual struggles are fierce, with no unified command. It is impossible for them to have come so quickly to make contact with us, and to have so nakedly declared their submission.

Indeed, the greater likelihood is that these are ambitious men among the oppressed warriors of the western provinces of the Saikaidō and the western San'indō. Only such men would have this kind of drive."

Gao Song cupped his hands in salute. "In that case, Great King, all the more should you accept them and win them over. The men of the Kinai have already reaped the benefits; whether warrior or monk, none of them can be trusted.

But the impoverished warriors of the western provinces can still be recruited. Though they lack much in the way of courage or strength, they are excellent for gathering intelligence on Wa!"

(End of Chapter)

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