Thinking of this, Wang Wenzuo began to take stock of the forces that could be mobilized: The first was the Tang Army that was originally stationed in Baekje. In terms of strength alone, this force is undoubtedly the strongest. But unfortunately, this army has been stationed outside for many years. The division's veterans are tired and the soldiers have no fighting spirit. How can such an army be used? Secondly, there is the power of local powerful people in Baekje, especially those new powerful people who have established a personal allegiance relationship with Wang Wenzuo himself. Their problem is that after years of war, they have limited power and are unwilling to intervene in the Japanese archipelago. Also average; the third is the Japanese who surrendered after the Battle of Baijiangkou. These people are very active in overthrowing the Prince Nakadai, and there are a lot of them. The problem is that these people are closely related to the Yamato Dynasty, and they will be backlashed if they are not careful; The fourth is the two thousand people Wang Wenzuo brought from Chang'an. If they can be lured with heavy profits and used properly, they can be a very useful force. The problem is that the number of people is limited, and although he has a foundation in personal martial arts, he has only participated in it before. He has never fought in a battle, lacks military experience, and Wang Wenzuo has no righteous relationship with him, so he may not be easy to use.
Of course, the most difficult thing at hand for Wang Wenzuo now is not the military issue. After all, the Japanese were dealt with through diplomatic mediation at the beginning, and the army was just hiding behind the scenes as a backing at the beginning, and there was no need to start fighting immediately. The prince Zhongdaxiong and the Japanese nobles are not gods, and they can see through the reality of Wang Wenzuo's troops. Although several months have passed since the Baijiangkou victory, they can still be used to intimidate people for a while. But you don’t know the strength of the army without fighting, and you can’t deceive anyone about the strength of the sea force. Ships float on the water. How many ships there are and how big they are can be seen clearly at a glance, and no one can hide it. Without a fleet capable of landing a sufficient number of troops across the sea, any diplomatic intimidation and political commitment will be ineffective. The army can be trained and reorganized slowly, but the construction of the fleet must start immediately.
Thinking of this, Wang Wenzuo also felt a dull pain in his temples. The reason he was able to build a few boats under Sixi City was because he was at war at the time. If he lacked materials, he could directly loot the Baekje palace and temples. If he lacked labor, the craftsmen would directly recruit people and give them to the mouth. To eat, just give some symbolic wages. If you dare to do this now, just wait for the civil uprising! But if we start from scratch, just logging and collecting materials is a big project, and we simply can’t even think about what happens next.
"Forget it, let's recruit soldiers to cut trees first! At most, we can give you some money as a subsidy!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "Fortunately, I got some private money in Chang'an this time, otherwise I really don't know what to do!"
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"Brother, big brother!" Wang Pu kicked off his straw sandals and climbed up the ladder in three steps and two steps at a time: "Wang Canjun is back, Wang Canjun is back from Chang'an!"
"What?" Wang Peng, who was laying grass on the roof, put down his work and turned around: "Fourth, this is not a joke, is it serious?"
"Brother, I heard what Zen Master Huicong said. How can it be false? There has been a turmoil in the temple for a long time!" Wang Pu said loudly: "I heard that Wang Canjun was promoted. What kind of Japanese country or Japanese country is it now? To appease the Japanese country. Ambassador, he’s a very big official!”
"You guys keep working!" Wang Peng scolded the servants who stopped next to him, and said to Wang Pu: "Fourth, you go to the garden behind to pick a few baskets of good melons and eggplants, and then grab ten more Chicken, get some eggs, let’s go visit his old man!”
"Hey!" Wang Pu responded and was about to pick melons and vegetables when he saw Wang Peng taking the hoe and walking out and asked, "Brother, what are you doing?"
"My second brother is fishing at the creek dam at the head of the village!" Wang Peng replied without looking back: "I'll go take a look and pick out a few big fish for him to take with him!"
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Si Xiang City, Wang Wenzuo's residence.
"These local products are just a little bit of the little man's thoughts!" Wang Peng pointed to the vegetable basket, the struggling chickens, eggs, and a few fresh fish placed under the hall and said: "Yesterday, I heard from my fourth brother that you came back from Chang'an. I just wanted to come and visit your old man, so I hope you can have a taste of this, and please accept it!"
"Your name is Wang Peng!" Wang Wenzuo looked at the dark-skinned man in front of him and nodded: "You are the first among my men.
I came to visit, I will remember this friendship! Sancho! "
"The villain is here!"
"Go to the inner room and get a piece of Shu Brocade!"
"It's the master!"
After a while, Sanqiu came back with a piece of silk from the inner room. Wang Wenzuo smiled and said: "This is what I brought back from Chang'an. It is a brocade from Shu. You should consider it as my return gift. Please accept it!"
Wang Peng stretched out his hands and carefully took the brocade from Sanqiu's hand. The thick and smooth touch came from his fingertips, as if he was dreaming. He quickly lowered his head: "Little man, little man -" He didn't know what to say for a moment. What.
"No problem, just accept it!" Wang Wenzuo interrupted his thanks: "Otherwise, I won't be able to accept your gift!"
"Yes, yes!" Wang Peng kowtowed several times: "Thank you, Lord, for your generous gift! Thank you, Lord, for your generous gift!"
"Well!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Wang Peng, it's not easy for you to come to Sixian City. You can stay and have a meal together before leaving!"
"Yes, yes!" Wang Peng responded twice. He looked around carefully and said with a smile: "I heard from the fourth child that you went to Chang'an this time and got promoted again. I don't know if it's true or not?"
"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile, "That's true. This time I went to Chang'an to receive the Emperor's favor, and I have become General Dingyuan, ambassador to comfort Japan, and a fifth-rank official!"
"General Dingyuan, the ambassador of Japan's comfort, is he of the fifth rank?" Wang Peng's eyes widened, looking unclear. When Wang Wenzuo saw this, he explained with a smile: "General Dingyuan is a casual rank, just a hairpin." I can’t count the official salary, but the Japanese comfort ambassador is the official who asked me to handle Japanese affairs!”
"Does that mean that Japanese affairs will be handled by you from now on?"
"That's about the same!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile. He poured a cup of tea and handed it to Wang Peng: "This tea is also brought from Chang'an. You should try it too!"
"Ah, ah!" Wang Peng quickly took the teacup and drank it carefully. Wang Wenzuo smiled and said, "How?"
"Chang'an's tea is naturally extraordinary!" Wang Peng said quickly.
"If you like it, take some back to taste!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.
"Well, thank you very much!"
"It doesn't matter, these tea leaves are originally intended to be given away!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "I remember your mother is still in the hall, drinking some tea is good for your health when you are old!"
Wang Peng took the tea bag sent by Sanqiu. He didn't know what to say even though he had a long mouth. Wang Wenzuo smiled and chatted with him. Wang Peng gradually relaxed and talked about things at his family farm. , the atmosphere in the room gradually became lively.
"Master, the meal is ready!" Sancho whispered.
"Well, then bring it over and have some together!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile, and Sancho responded. After a while, two maids brought the food up. In the Tang Dynasty, there was still a sharing system. Wang Peng and Wang Wenzuo each had three dishes in front of them: one Fish, a tofu mixed with eggs, and a blanched leek. Wang Piao thanked him, then picked up his chopsticks and started eating.
"Wang Peng, how do you eat at home on weekdays? How many days can you eat meat and fish?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"About a month or two!" Wang Peng quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and answered carefully.
"A month or two?" Wang Wenzuo frowned: "How many fields does your family have?"
"About seven or eight hundred acres!"
"What about pastures and mountains?"
"I'm not careful about this, it's quite a lot anyway!"
"With so many fields, how come we only eat meat once every month or two?"
"Young Master, you don't know. It's only been less than a year since the war ended, and there are still many places to spend money and food, so——"
Wang Wenzuo nodded and pondered for a moment: "I will organize a hunt in a few days. You can also bring a few athletes with good archery skills!"
"That's good!" Wang Peng said with a smile: "I also trained the young men in the village during the off-season last winter, just so that Mr. Lang could see their skills. May I ask, where is the hunting place?"
"It's just over Shikao Lake, there's a lot of prey there!"
"Lu Wei Ze?" Wang Peng's face changed drastically: "Lang Jun, that's where the Wang Family Hunting Garden used to be.
, can we go hunting there? "
"As long as I say yes, you don't have to worry!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Bring some prey back then, so that your family can get some meat!"
Wang Peng finished his meal and left quickly. Wang Wenzuo walked into the courtyard, looking a little gloomy. He walked around twice and saw Sanqiu sitting on the steps in front of the hall, waxing his bowstring. He asked: "Sanqiu, if I use troops against the Japanese, what will you do?" Do you think Wang Peng will come?"
"Of course he will!" Sancho put down the horned bow in his hand: "He will definitely come back, and he will bring at least twenty people with him!"
"But he is still very poor now!"
"Very poor? Not bad!" Sancho smiled and said, "At least it's much better than before. No one in his village starved to death last winter, and everyone in his family ate corn, beans, and barley. The year before last, his family had no food for the winter. I have to compete with the wild boars in the mountains for acorns!"
"Eating acorns for the winter?"
"Yeah, actually his family is pretty good. At least there are acorns that can be picked up on the mountain next to the house. They can be ground into powder and made into porridge, but they can't be eaten. Farmers in many places don't even have acorns in winter. We don’t even have anything to eat! It’s just idle time at home in the winter. If he takes his people to go to sea with you to fight against the Japanese, he might even get a share of the spoils, so why not!”
Hearing Sancho's answer, Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but laugh. Reality can always exceed the lower limit of his imagination. He thought that these Baekjerang Party members had become landlords now that they had divided the land, but he did not expect that these Baekjerang Party members had just become landlords. The guys live in such poverty, but this is actually a good thing for themselves. The poorer they are, the lower the mobilization costs are.
"Master, do you really plan to send troops to fight against the Japanese?" Sancho asked
"It's not certain yet!" Wang Wenzuo didn't intend to hide it from Sancho: "But you have to be prepared. Sancho, you also prepare your manpower. I also want to see your skills during the hunt!"
"As you command!"
In the following days, more and more Baekjelang members came to Sixi to seek an audience with Wang Wenzuo. Most of them were still very poor. It would be nice to have an old horse. Most of them rode Donkeys or mules, some even came on foot. Wang Wenzuo received them all regardless of whether they were rich or poor, gave them gifts, stayed to eat, and invited them to participate in the hunt that was about to begin.
"Brother Yi, these Baekje people are really poor!" A bad boy pointed at the Baekje people who were talking to the guard sergeant and laughed: "I only have a coarse linen clothes on me, and my legs are all bare in this weather. There was no leg wrapping cloth, and the bow on his back didn't even have a decent bow bait. The gifts were just some fruits and eggplants, two pieces of leather, half a basket of eggs and so on. That Wang Sima even received them one by one in the hall. , these can’t be his poor relatives, right?”
Wu Xiaoyi looked at the Baekje people who came in, snorted coldly, and said nothing. Naturally, he knew much more about Wang Wenzuo than these evil young men, so naturally he would not take these strange words to heart. It was just that he had grown up in Chang'an since he was a child, so naturally he did not look down on these poor men from foreign countries.
Seeing that Wu Xiaoyi was still silent, the evil boy smiled and said, "Brother Xiaoyi, have you heard? Wang Sima will organize a hunt in the next few days at Luwei Ze outside the city. I heard that it is the private property of King Baekje." Yuan, just like the Yulong River in the west of Chang'an, these poor devils will also go together!"
"What? Hunting?" Wu Xiaoyi stood up straight: "Where did you hear the news?"
"I heard it from a cook. She said that the cooks have been busy making dry food in the past few days to prepare for that day's hunting!" The evil boy smiled and said: "Brother Xiao Yi, when you arrive Why don't you show your hand and let these poor barbarians open their eyes!"
"I'm good at using crossbows, but I'm average at riding and shooting!" Wu Xiaoyi said: "Wang Sima has many talented people, be careful not to make a fool of yourself!"
"There is no rule against using crossbows when hunting! Brother Yi, as the saying goes, a strong dragon will not suppress a local snake. We have come thousands of miles away, but we cannot be suppressed by these local snakes!"
Wu Xiaoyi snorted coldly and said nothing. After a while, he spat: "Let's go to Luwei Ze!"
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"Zen Master Huicong, Cui Hongdu, this time I went to Japan as an envoy to submit my credentials.
, I’ll just trouble you two! Wang Wenzuo said in a deep voice.
"Yes!" The two of them responded in unison. Cui Hongdu laughed and said, "It's a pity that I couldn't catch up with the hunt, otherwise I really want to relax!"
"There is no way, time is running out!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "Nearly ten months have passed since the Battle of Baijiangkou, and the Japanese stone city has been repaired for at least several months. If it is delayed any longer, I am afraid it will be even worse. unfavorable!"
"Ming Gong!" Huicong asked, "Don't worry too much about this. I heard a few days ago that the Japanese sent envoys to Silla, and their words were very humble. According to the poor monk, the Japanese are now frightened!"
