Chapter 434
Moving the Capital
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With Ye Shiyun personally in charge, the Song Dynasty used the two hundred million gold and silver coins from Japan as reserves and issued some paper money, but did not dare to issue too much.
This is mainly because issuing paper money anchored to gold and silver is essentially about solving the problem of monetary credit through value anchoring.
The essence of money is a medium of exchange and a measure of value; its effectiveness depends on "scarcity" and "convertibility".
The paper money issued in the Song Dynasty was subject to inflation because it was over-issued without any anchor.
In this situation, people would definitely abandon paper money and hoard physical goods, and merchants would refuse to accept devalued currency, ultimately leading to the collapse of the Jiaozi system.
To put it bluntly, this was caused by the complete loss of credibility of the Jiaozi (paper money).
Today, the Song Dynasty uses Japan's two hundred million gold and silver coins as an anchor, which is equivalent to giving the issued paper money a fixed "value collateral".
In other words, once market participants clearly know that paper money can be exchanged for gold and silver at any time, they will establish trust in the paper money issued by the Song Dynasty and be willing to hold and use the paper money for transactions, thus resolving the credit crisis of unanchored currency.
From the perspective of supply and demand, the amount of paper money issued strictly corresponded to the scale of the government's gold and silver reserves, which prevented the imperial court from having the impulse to issue currency indiscriminately due to fiscal deficits and ensured that the money supply and the total amount of social goods maintained a dynamic balance.
This constraint can effectively prevent wealth from shrinking due to inflation and protect the real interests of ordinary people and businesses.
At the same time, a monetary system pegged to gold and silver has a natural self-regulating ability.
In other words, when there is a slight surplus of paper money in the market, people will exchange it for gold and silver to store, reducing the amount of currency in circulation; when the supply of paper money is insufficient, gold and silver can be exchanged back for paper money to supplement market liquidity, forming a virtuous cycle of "issuance-exchange-return" to maintain price stability and market order.
Ye Shiyun understood all of this, which is why, even though the Song Dynasty urgently needed money, she first issued only a small amount of paper money to gradually establish a new balance in the Song Dynasty's monetary system, so as to avoid a major impact on the Song Dynasty's monetary market.
In short, Zhao Yu left all the professional matters to the professionals. He was only responsible for bringing back the two hundred million taels of gold and silver. How to use them was to be handled by Ye Shiyun, Cai Jing, and others. He only needed to observe the results.
Taking money without doing any work is not Zhao Yu's style.
Two hundred million taels of gold and silver arrived in the Song Dynasty. A few days later, a massive expeditionary force consisting of 100,000 land troops, 20,000 naval troops, and nearly a thousand warships, seagoing vessels, and horse-drawn ships set off from the Song Dynasty and headed to Japan.
The soldiers dispatched by the Song Dynasty to rescue Japan were selected from over a million soldiers in the Song army, mainly from the south, to prevent them from becoming seasick and weak-kneed before even engaging the Jin army in battle.
The warships of the Song Dynasty were mainly cart-boats.
Among them were large wagons, some reaching thirty zhang (approximately 13 meters) in length or even longer, capable of carrying seven or eight hundred people. They were equipped with foot-powered wheeled oars, resulting in high speed and maneuverability. Furthermore, their watertight compartment technology was mature, making them difficult to sink even if their hulls were damaged. They were also equipped with heavy weapons such as ramming poles, capable of launching boulders or iron-tipped logs that could directly ram and smash enemy ships. In addition, they were equipped with advanced Li Lin cannons, ballistae, and high-powered oil tanks.
Furthermore, the masts of large vehicles and ships can be tilted and lowered, the rudder can be raised and lowered, and they are equipped with large steam engines, giving them a strong ability to cope with complex sea conditions such as sea winds.
Smaller vehicles and boats are much smaller and have two power systems: a foot-powered wheeled paddlewheel and a steam engine. The difference is that they are not equipped with heavy weapons such as batons, which makes them faster and more agile.
The Song Dynasty's shipbuilding technology was advanced, employing watertight compartments, V-shaped pointed bottom keels, and other technologies. Ships were dozens of feet long, with a displacement of nearly a thousand tons, capable of carrying five or six hundred people, a year's worth of provisions, and could sail as far as the Prince's Continent, or even back and forth.
The Song Dynasty's horse ships were mainly used for transporting horses, with each ship capable of carrying hundreds of warhorses at a time.
Judging from the number of troops and their deployment this time, it is not hard to see that the Song Dynasty was still very generous to Japan for the 200 million gold and silver. It was strategically contemptuous of the Jin army, but tactically respectful of the Jin army.
The Song army assembled at Hepu in Jidi, and then set off for Japan.
Zhao Yu had already given instructions for this battle: "First take Tsushima and Iki as anchors, then break through Hakata Bay, preventing any Jin ships from returning to port, then advance by land and sea to completely annihilate the Jin army."
Although Zhao Yu intended to take Japan for himself, such a thing required careful planning and an opportune moment.
Therefore, at this stage, the strategic goal of the Song Dynasty is still primarily to rescue Japan and drive out the Jin people.
As for whether we can conquer Japan, we'll have to wait and see. We can't force it, at least not at this stage.
It is said that when the Song army's fleet arrived at Tsushima Island, before the Jin army on it could react, the Song army's Li Lin cannons had already launched an attack.
The roar of Li Lin's cannons shook the sea, and the salvo of cannonballs, like a meteor shower, shattered the Jin army's wooden sentry boats in an instant.
The Jin army's warships mainly fell into two categories:
One type consists of leather boats and medium-sized warships built by the Jurchens themselves, which have already been introduced earlier and will not be repeated here.
Another type was warships built by the Japanese.
Previously, although Japanese envoys to Tang China drew inspiration from Chinese ship designs, since Japan adopted a policy of national isolation two hundred years ago and stopped sending envoys to Tang China, Japanese warships regressed to the rudimentary level of hollowed-out shipbuilding, relying primarily on oars for propulsion. Their structures were fragile, and their load-bearing capacity and ability to withstand wind and waves were far inferior to those of Song ships, making them only suitable for coastal navigation.
Moreover, Japanese warships of this period lacked dedicated shipboard weapons, and their soldiers mostly carried only swords and bows and arrows. Furthermore, the limited space on the warships prevented them from carrying heavy equipment, making it extremely difficult for them to withstand the firepower suppression of Song ships during battles.
To put it simply, Japanese warships at this time were not even as good as those built by the Jin dynasty, let alone compared to the warships of the Song dynasty.
The small Song Dynasty boats, powered by dual propulsion systems, moved swiftly, avoiding the shallows and approaching the island's coastline. Ballistae fired in unison, giant arrows piercing the wooden palisade of the Japanese fortress, and flames spewing from oil tanks spread with the sea breeze, turning the beachhead into a sea of fire.
Some of the Jin soldiers (mainly Japanese who were controlled and brainwashed by the Jin army and wanted to show their bravery so that they would be given important positions by the Jin people), some carrying bows and arrows and others holding katanas, charged forward with shouts.
The result was self-evident: these idiots were bombarded and killed one by one by the Song army's Li Lin cannons. Occasionally, those who rushed to the side of the Song warships would be shot dead by the Song army's Li Lin guns, Shenbi bows, or arrows.
In less than half a day, Tsushima Island was occupied by the Song Dynasty.
Next, the Song Dynasty left an army to guard the captured Jurchens and Japanese who were building permanent military fortifications on Tsushima Island, preparing to garrison the island for a long time. The remaining army, after resting and reorganizing, continued the attack.
As the fleet sailed toward Iki Island, it was intercepted by more than a hundred Jin warships.
Li Bao, the commander of the Song navy, decisively ordered the Song fleet to change formation.
Immediately, the large Song Dynasty ships positioned themselves in the center, while smaller ships flanked them, forming an encirclement. The battering ram of the "Dongjing" was the first to fall, and a massive boulder weighing thousands of pounds crashed onto the deck of the Jin army's flagship, instantly smashing through the hull and sending seawater gushing in.
Immediately afterwards, Li Lin's guns on the "Tokyo" fired a salvo.
A barrage of cannonballs exploded on the Jin army's flagship, a treasure ship that had been seized from the Song Dynasty. Wood chips and corpses flew everywhere. After its masts were blown off, the treasure ship lost control and crashed into a group of small Jin boats, knocking them over.
The small boats of the Song Dynasty took the opportunity to get close. When the Song soldiers were far away, they used Li Lin cannons to bombard them and crossbows to shoot them. At medium range, they used Li Lin guns and divine crossbows to shoot them. When they were close, they threw bombs or used oil tanks to burn the Jin army's warships.
Soon, the flames spread along the wooden planks of the Jin army ship, and thick smoke obscured the sky.
In short, in this naval battle, the Song army overwhelmed the Jin army with its superior weaponry and technology. The Jin warships were either sunk or burned, with only a few managing to escape. When the Jin garrison on Iki Island saw their fleet destroyed, they all surrendered.
After capturing the two islands, the Song army fleet had received all the food and supplies replenished in Hepu. The warhorses unloaded from the horse ships were resting on the islands, while the navy repaired the warships in preparation for a general attack on Hakata Bay.
At this time, the Jin army had assembled more than a thousand warships of various sizes in Hakata Bay, built stone walls along the shore, and set up a small number of cannons and catapults that were imitations of Li Lin's cannons, attempting to defend the area by taking advantage of the terrain.
When the Song fleet arrived, the Jin warships rushed out of the harbor first. They loaded small boats with firewood and other flammable materials, hoping to take advantage of the east wind to burn the Song warships.
It must be said that the Jin army's tactics actually had a certain chance of success. If, as in history, divine winds had assisted them, the Jin army might not have been without a chance.
Unfortunately, when the Jin army set sail, there was an east wind, but after all the Jin army's small boats were set ablaze, the wind suddenly stopped.
The Song army's large wagons and ships were arranged in a long, straight line. Li Lin adjusted the angle of his cannon and aimed it at the waterline position of the Jin army's warships.
As the flagship Tokyo fired its cannons, hundreds of Li Lin cannons opened fire simultaneously, raining down shells that were no match for the wooden hulls of the Jin warships, which were riddled with holes.
In the midst of the fierce battle, a treasure ship that the Jin army had seized from the Song Dynasty suddenly broke through the wall of fire and headed straight for the "Tokyo".
The "Tokyo" rammed its mast again, and the boulder smashed into the mast of the Jin warship. At the same time, the small wagons on both sides quickly surrounded it and rammed the Jin warship's side with their rams.
Immediately afterwards, Song soldiers set up gangplanks, armed with various weapons, and rushed into the Jin warships, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the Jin soldiers.
Although some Jin soldiers were brave, they were no match for the Song army's superior armor, powerful weapons, and well-coordinated tactics, and were quickly wiped out.
Seeing the Jin fleet collapse, the defenders of the stone wall along the coast attempted to retaliate with cannons, but were accurately hit by the Song army's Li Lin cannons, causing the stone wall to collapse and the defenders to scatter and flee.
Taking advantage of the situation, the Song army fleet rushed into Hakata Bay. Large vehicles and ships docked at the shore, and after the soldiers landed, they joined forces with the island's army and quickly captured the coastal fortresses.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the remaining forces of the Jin army collapsed and scattered, and Hakata Bay fell into the hands of the Song Dynasty.
In this naval battle, the Song army achieved a complete victory at minimal cost. It not only destroyed the naval power of the Jin-Japanese allied forces but also opened the gateway to the Japanese mainland, laying a solid foundation for subsequent conquests...
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Just as the Song-Jin naval war was raging, the relocation of the capital of the Song Dynasty was also in full swing.
Since Emperor Zhao Yu decided to move the capital, the Song Dynasty had conscripted millions of artisans and laborers to expand Beijing and build the Forbidden City.
The main reason why Zhao Yu moved the capital from Tokyo to Beijing was that Tokyo was located in the heart of the Central Plains and had no natural defenses. Faced with the southward incursions of northern nomadic or hunting peoples, it often found itself in a passive defensive predicament.
Beijing, with its natural defenses provided by the Yanshan Mountains, could rely on the Great Wall to build a northern defense line, integrating the border front with the capital's defenses. This would allow for the convenient deployment of troops to resist and deter northern nomadic tribes, forming a strategic pattern of "protecting the border with the capital."
Furthermore, the new Grand Canal and railways could transport the wealth of Jiangnan to Beijing, solving the capital's food and material supply problems. At the same time, relying on the coal, iron, oil and other resources and the livestock industry in the north, it could make up for the shortcomings of Tokyo's single agricultural economy, forming a diversified economic system of agriculture, animal husbandry, industry and commerce, providing a solid material foundation for Beijing to become the economic core of the Song Dynasty.
More importantly, due to historical reasons, the north was home to many ethnic minorities, such as the Khitan, Xi, Bohai, Jurchen, and "Mongols," and even the Han people in the north had become Han people. If Zhao Yu did not move the capital to Beijing, these ethnic minorities would never truly submit to the Song Dynasty and would become a major threat to the Song Dynasty.
Furthermore, moving the capital to Beijing would further weaken the existing gentry class of the Song Dynasty and strengthen the rule of the imperial family.
In short, just like in history, after Zhu Di moved the capital, Beijing became the political and military center, which not only strengthened the northern border defenses but also effectively radiated throughout the country, laying the foundation for the capital city pattern of the Ming and Qing dynasties for nearly five hundred years.
However, on the other hand, the relocation of the capital was not a smooth process at all.
Putting aside the fact that Zhao Yu spent over a hundred million in total to relocate the capital.
This money all belonged to Zhao Yu himself.
It's no exaggeration to say that Zhao Yu spent almost half of his personal savings on the relocation of the capital.
If the imperial court were to spend this money, those ministers who did not want to move the capital would surely say that Zhao Yu was indulging in extravagant construction projects, being arrogant and dissolute, and being fond of grandiose projects.
In April of this year, the three main halls of the Forbidden City were struck by lightning, nearly causing a fire. Some ministers who did not want to move the capital even took the opportunity to submit a memorial stating that "moving the capital is inauspicious" and requesting Zhao Yu not to move the capital.
Zhao Yu immediately refuted Ma Xiaojiao's claim that "this is all because the palaces in the Forbidden City were not equipped with lightning rods during construction," and then had Ma Xiaojiao conduct a lightning-attracting experiment, which completely refuted this claim.
In short, Zhao Yu has consistently insisted on making Beijing the capital over the years.
Thanks to Zhao Yu's insistence, the Song Dynasty eventually moved its capital from Tokyo to Beijing.
After moving the capital, Zhao Yu established "nine important border towns" along the Great Wall, and set up large-scale military corps in the Ji region, the Northeast, and the Yinshan region, dispatching 500,000 troops to garrison the north and to suppress rebellious forces.
This also made Beijing the military command center of the Song Dynasty, completely changing the previous border defense pattern of "strong in the south and weak in the north".
Thus began a brand new era of the Song Dynasty...
...(End of chapter)