The real name of Rashomon in Heiankyo, Japan should be Ra Castle Gate. The so-called Ra Castle actually refers to the outer city of a large city in ancient China.
Large cities in ancient China were generally composed of two parts: the outer city (Luocheng) and the inner city (Zicheng). Before the Song Dynasty, the "fangs" in the outer city and the inner city were also small castles that could independently defend themselves.
In the early years, Japan imitated China everywhere, so when building Heian Kyo, it also made a very grand plan, designed Luocheng and Zicheng, and divided Luocheng into the left and right capitals. The left capital is called Luoyang, and the right capital is called Chang'an. The two capitals are divided by the straight Zhuque Street between Luochengmen (the south gate of Luocheng) and Zhuquemen (the city gate of Zicheng).
It's a pity that Japan's Heian Kyo is an unfinished project, Zuoking Luoyang is developing well, and Ukyo Chang'an is almost abandoned. Luocheng in Heianjing has only one gate and no city wall. And for some reason, the only gate of Raocheng was called Rashomon. During the Tokugawa Shogunate period, the Rashomon Gate also collapsed due to disrepair.
Therefore, the Rajomon gate of Heiankyo in Japan has neither a city nor a gate, only a place name.
In an open space south of Rashomon, the Tokugawa warriors had already set up a very standard hollow square formation. The warriors who formed the phalanx all belonged to the Fanfang Legion, which was adapted from the remnants of the Zhengchao Army. This legion was modeled on the infantry divisions of the armies in front of the Ming Army. It was a combination of infantry, cavalry, artillery, baggage troops and engineers. new army.
This Fanfang regiment numbered more than 10,000 people and was equipped with long guns, iron cannons, 6-pound bronze cannons and war horses purchased from the Qing Dynasty. Most of the entire army was equipped with simplified contemporary utensils, while the officers and cavalry were equipped with Southern barbarian utensils with better defensive capabilities.
General Tokugawa Iemitsu was also in this hollow formation composed of the entire Banfang army, but he was not wearing armor - it was too heavy. Iemitsu was in poor health and did not have the strength. When he was young, he tried to put on the armor passed down by his grandfather Tokugawa Ieyasu on a whim. As a result, he couldn't walk, so he stopped wearing armor. In addition, the General is also afraid of being exposed to the sun. Tanning will make people look older, which will give people the illusion that the General is in his twilight years. So Tokugawa Iemitsu didn't stay in the sun, but sat in a large white tent.
Of course he made such a big noise at the gate of Ping'an Jing (the gate without a door) to welcome Zhu Cijiong who came from afar.
Iemitsu has learned about what Zhu Cijiong did in Tsuruga Port, and of course he has to show something in order to let the Ming Dynasty know how powerful he is... Although the Korean War launched by the Tokugawa Shogunate ended in a draw (according to According to the shogunate, the purpose of the Korean Formation was not to seize land, but to obtain an equal international status with the Ming Dynasty. Now the Ming Dynasty did not treat Japan as a vassal, so the Korean Formation did not fail), but the Tokugawa shogunate still had powerful The military strength is enough to maintain rule in Japan and to repel any enemy who wants to invade Japan!
The chief officer of the Banfang Legion, Masayuki Hoshina, quickly walked into the tent, saluted Tokugawa Iemitsu, and then loudly reported: "Your Highness, Prince Ning of the Ming Dynasty's wedding procession has passed Fushimi Castle. We will arrive at Rashomon soon."
After Zhu Cijiong's wedding team landed at Tsuruga Port, they stayed for about a month to recruit and train 1,000 northern warriors. In mid-March of the 23rd year of Kan'ei, we set off again, passing through the east of Lake Biwa, going around to the south of Kyoto, and then heading north again. In addition to admiring the beautiful scenery of Lake Biwa along the way, we also visited Hikone Castle, the main city of the Hikone Domain, which took more than 20 years to build. Now we passed under the newly built Fushimi Fortress.
Fushimi Fortress was built on the site of Ambush Castle. The original Fushimi Castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was a stronghold of Hideyoshi in Kyoto. After the Battle of Sekigahara, it once became the Tokugawa family's stronghold in the Gyeonggi region. However, after the Battle of Osaka, Fushimi Castle's status was not as good as before, and it was abandoned by Iemitsu in the third year of Kanei. After the draw in the Korean battle was decided, Tokugawa Iemitsu ordered the construction of a bastion on the former site of Fushimi Castle as a stronghold to defend Kyoto.
In addition to Fushimi Bastion, Iemitsu also ordered the reconstruction of Nijo Castle into a fortress. Although Heian-kyo in Japan is a capital with neither a castle nor a gate, the two bastions of Fushimi and Nijo are extremely strong fortresses.
Moreover, in order to prevent enemy artillery attacks, Fushimi Bastion did not build a tall honmaru, but a bunker with anti-artillery function. The tall Honmaru of Nijo Castle was also demolished, and an anti-gun bunker was built on the original site of the Honmaru.
"Your Highness Sekihaku," Tokugawa Iemitsu glanced at Sekihaku Kujo Daofang sitting in the tent (who is also Iemitsu's adopted son-in-law and Zhu Cixiang's brother-in-law), "Go and invite His Majesty the Emperor!"
"I'll come as soon as I go." Kujo Daofang received Iemitsu's order, and of course he didn't dare to delay. He immediately got up and left the tent, got on an ox cart, and headed towards the Emperor's Imperial Palace along the Suzaku Avenue that had long been under martial law. .
Although the "Ten Thousand Stone Emperor" has a big air, Zhu Cijiong is the future husband of the emperor after all. Therefore, Emperor Xingzi could not stay in the shabby imperial palace and wait for Zhu Cijiong to come to see him. She had to go out to Rashomon to greet him in person... This was a wife welcoming her husband, not the emperor personally welcoming the prince, and it had nothing to do with the national character. After the two get married in the future, Xingzi, who abdicates and becomes the emperor, will have to kneel down to welcome her husband Zhu Cijiong!
...
When Emperor Koiko left the imperial palace in his royal chariot, he had already put on a Tang Dynasty-style long-sleeved shirt, a double-ring hanging bun (this was the bun for unmarried women in the Tang Dynasty), and held a round fan in his hand. , even the makeup on her face is Tang style.
Her dress and appearance were all based on the previous unmarried queen, Emperor Xiaoqian, after consulting the records stored in the palace. Emperor Xiaoqian was the same generation as Kaiyuan and Tianbao of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, there were no Later, the kimono and the clothing of Japan's upper class completely copied the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Emperor Xingzi now followed Emperor Xiaoqian's appearance and dressed himself up as a noblewoman of the Tang Dynasty.
And her outfit matches the Tang style of the buildings on both sides of Suzaku Street very well - although Heian Kyo, Japan is an unfinished project, it retains many elements of the Tang Dynasty. Even in China during the Ming Dynasty, there was no city more Tang Dynasty than Heianjing.
When Emperor Koiko's troops arrived at Rashomon, the Bangata samurai who were guarding there and forming a hollow phalanx let out a deafening cry: "The Emperor is on board! The Emperor is on board..."
Faced with this situation, Emperor Koiko's face remained calm, and he continued to sit motionless on the royal sled, passing by Tokugawa Iemitsu's military formation. Tokugawa Iemitsu, Hoshina Masayuki, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, Itakura Shigemune and other figures, either in military uniforms or in court uniforms, all greeted the emperor at the northern entrance of the military formation. Then together they escorted the "Ten Thousand Stone Emperor" through the military formation to meet Zhu Cijiong, King Ning of the Ming Dynasty.
At this moment, Emperor Koiko really tasted the feeling of being the king of a great country and being above ten thousand people... Although it was just an illusion, it was still intoxicating enough!
When Emperor Koiko arrived at the southern exit of the military formation, she could already see a sheet of jumping silver and dozens of bright red flags rushing towards him!
That is the wedding team of Zhu Cijiong, King Ning of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Cijiong brought 1,500 knights this time, 500 of which were escort cavalry he brought from North Korea, and the other 1,000 were northern samurai recruited at Tsuruga Port.
During his stay in Tsuruga, several more large sailing ships came from North Korea, bringing 1,500 Mongolian horses and 1,000 pairs of plate armor, so Zhu Cijiong could turn his guards and Xingzi's northern warriors into knights. It drove into Heian-kyo in Japan with great force.
