Chapter 29 Section 4

"City" in the valley Have you heard the story of "Mono Sho Taro"? In Shinshu, there is a lazy worm named Monokutaro, who grew up under the protection of the villagers.One day, the capital was recruiting workers, and the villagers sent Wu Taro to participate, wanting to get rid of this hot potato by the way.After Wushou Taro arrived in the capital, he not only married his wife, but later discovered that he was actually a descendant of a certain nobleman living among the people, in short, he was a man. It's a pity that this story is quite different, and it is not a simple story of aristocrats wandering around.Because when Mukutaro was still in the village, he was a person who didn't do production, didn't even bother to move, and didn't even bother to pick up the cakes that fell on the ground to eat.The question is, how can a man like him survive in that era when it is difficult for everyone to support themselves, and there is no spare energy to take care of others?

In the first three chapters, the author explained how unstable Kobushicho is now.The power struggle between the Wumu clan and the Tushou clan further deepened the chaos. They are located on the line of influence between the two, that is, the current Yanzhong area and Liusang village. Several times of war disasters have occurred. Next, let's move our focus to the aforementioned Mid Valley region. There is a very incredible legend in the valley.That is in the east of the Yanzhong area, between Liusang Village and Liusang Village, there are several mountains. It is said that there is a "city" in the mountains.When the author was a child, I often heard the residents of the valley call the mountain to the east "Chengshan".

However, judging from the sphere of influence of the Wumu clan and the Tushou clan, it is logically impossible for there to be a "city" in the mountains in the valley.If this city is the territory of the Wumu clan, then the battlefield should be closer to Babao; on the contrary, if this city is the territory of the Tushou clan, then the battlefield should be closer to the Xiaofu area.In addition, after investigating the information of the two spheres of influence, there is no mention of the city in the valley.Even after checking the records left behind, there is no mention of his attacking or defending the city in the valley.

So, is the "city" in the valley just a fantasy fabricated by the residents of the valley? The author asked the local old man for a map, and went deep into Sugiyama to investigate. I went there three times. Although I don’t know if it is that city, I did find that there are indeed artificially processed places in the local area, as shown in Figure 12. shown on the map. Cross a mountain from the valley, go down first, and then climb up. On the top of the mountain, there is a very small, but indeed flattened place.Only about 20 meters on one side!A low-lying area resembling a trench was also found.

The "city" in the Middle Ages does not refer to "a facility with defensive capabilities", but "a facility that serves as a defensive stronghold".No matter how weak the strength is, no matter how good the combat readiness is, as long as someone is determined to defend this site, then this place can be called a "city". In addition to referring to actual buildings in the Middle Ages, "city" also had a symbolic meaning, and it was also an existence full of mystery (please refer to the author's "The Way of the Village Liusang·Xiaofu·Babao "Page 101).If this is the case, then this ruin should be "Midvalley City", right?

"City in the Valley" neither exists in Wumu's data nor in Tushou's data, but it does exist in reality... What is going on? The key to solving this mystery lies in the Hachiman Shrine in Yanaka.Those are some ancient documents.Originally stored in the temple in Yanaka, the movement that occurred in the Meiji era later, for some reason, only these few ancient documents were sent to Hachiman Shrine. One of them is a public notice consisting of three prohibitions. ban 1. Things that interfere with chaos. 2. The matter of arson. 3. Felling of forests. Any violators should be arrested as soon as possible and made public.

According to the general saying, abuse refers to kidnapping, and chaos refers to robbing others of their property.According to legend, this ban was promulgated by the Tushou clan in the thirteenth year of Tianzheng (1585 A.D.).At that time, the power struggle between the two hostile forces had finally reached its climax, and the situation clearly favored the Tushou family.Even Guzhong, which had been the territory of the Wumu clan for a long time, became the territory of the Tushou clan in the 14th year of Tianzheng. If this is the case, then this announcement can indeed be interpreted in this way - since the Tushou Clan defeated the Itsuki Clan and brought Yanaka into its domain, it officially announced that the local area will be out of war from now on, and is committed to restoring local law and order .

However, the remaining ancient texts offer another perspective on the proclamation. In addition to the announcement, the ancient document also has an IOU.The debtor is Yan Zhongcun, and the creditor is Liusang Village.The amount is three pens and two hundred coins.This was a very large sum at the time.What are the people in the Valley planning to use the money for? There is such a paragraph at the end of the IOU—— The gold shown on the right is to be borrowed for payment of judgment money and pen skills in the future.It should be paid off before the end of December of the same year.From then on, if Liu Sang was attacked, he could escape to Fangshan in the village of Guzhong through the underground passage.

It can be seen from this that the money was borrowed to pay the "judgment money" and "pen skills (pen farming)".Must be paid off by the end of December.In addition, if Liu Sang is affected by the flames of war in the future, everyone can escape to the mountains in the valley. But the question is, who is the money going to go to? This answer is hidden in the last sentence of the above-mentioned prohibition-"If there is any violator, he should be arrested as soon as possible and made public." His behavior meant that he was going to be arrested.But in troubled times, these predators usually have their own force, so who did the Tushou clan ask to arrest them?

Who else but the common people in the valley? In the Middle Ages, ordinary people could only rely on their own strength to protect their lives, property and safety from the soldiers who had turned into looters.In order to fight against these armed looters, the common people of course also have their own armed forces and organizations (for the organization of young people in the valley during wartime, please refer to the book "Village Practice Liusang·Xiaofu·Babao" 133 pages). In other words, this proclamation is by no means a declaration of peace, but a license to fight, allowing the villages under its jurisdiction to use force to resist their plunder once they find that the army suddenly becomes a plunderer (I believe everyone should know that if you use force to confront the prince's army without such prior announcement, you will be arrested as a crime of disorder).

However, it was the Middle Ages of "self-help".Of course, this license cannot fall from the sky.Therefore, the residents of Yanzhong had no choice but to ask the Tushou clan, who had the upper hand in the situation at that time, to issue this announcement.Of course, the Tushou family would not issue this announcement for no reason, but asked for a considerable amount of money as a reward.Maybe it's a sentence of money, or maybe it's the fee for pen skills (pen farming).But the amount was so high that Yanaka alone couldn't pay it.The part that is not enough has to be borrowed from Liusang Village, which is sandwiched between the Tushou clan and the Wumu clan.Because if you don't obediently prepare the money, you won't be able to use force to resist in the event of robbery or kidnapping.So it's not hard to imagine how much Yanaka would be grateful to Liu-san. In "Xiaofu's Diary", the summer customs of Guzhong and Liusang are described as follows - during summer slack, the residents of Guzhong will go to Liusang to dance for the residents of Liusang during the Ghost Festival.Then next time, the residents of Liusang will go to the valley to dance for the residents of the valley to see.Yan Zhong and Liu Sang's way of dancing and meeting friends, in the sense of communication, in addition to having sympathy for each other who are also in a tense zone, there may also be a tacit understanding that can support each other in the event of a war! Therefore, in order to express his gratitude to Liu Sang, Tanaka promised to lend a helping hand when Liu Sang was in danger, that is, to give the residents of Liu Sang the privilege of "going up the mountain".At that time, the ownership of the mountains on the east side of the valley was in the hands of the valley.Therefore, it is written in black and white on the IOU that the residents of Liusang can "go up the mountain" in case of war. When the enemy is too strong, even armed forces are useless; or when the Wumu clan or Tushou clan's army is overwhelming, the residents have to leave the village to seek refuge. This behavior is called "going up the mountain". However, according to the author's own experience, if you don't prepare in advance, life as a refugee can be very hard.In addition, if you simply fled to the mountains, you may still worry that the predators may attack at any time. Therefore, in response to the above needs, a granary for combat preparations, a stronghold for short-term living, and simple defensive measures...the so-called "City in the Valley" were created. It can be seen from this that the "castle lord" of "Valley City" is also the residents of Valley Village. Such "village cities" are not unique to Yanaka.According to the report, in the area of ​​Kyushu Island alone, it has already been discovered Nineteen "city of villages".The following is the author's personal opinion. I think there may be many "village cities" like this in all parts of the country. To countless.Based on the common biological instinct of human beings who want to live and must live, coupled with the time and space background of "self-help" in the Middle Ages, all imaginable methods must be tried.So buildings with defense mechanisms like this, I think, are an inevitable trend of the times. In addition, those people who are fully armed and entrenched in the city must have resorted to various means!Now that the rulers have delegated the power and obligation to maintain law and order to the people, the people must also hire combat experts!That is the so-called mercenary. In short, in case of emergencies, medieval villages already knew how to support a group of unproductive people from the usual beginning.Therefore, the folklore of "Monoku Taro" mentioned by the author at the beginning of this chapter, there is also a saying that this story comes from this custom of raising mercenaries who "can be pushed to the front line at any time".As for whether among these dependents, there will really be a group of mercenaries who can be fully armed and take the place of ordinary people on the battlefield, it is all my own imagination. The reason why the Middle Ages was called the Warring States was because in that era, there was no system to protect the common people. If the common people wanted to protect their lives and properties from infringement, they could only arm themselves or hire mercenaries. Other than that, there is no other way. However, the present era, which is called the modern age, does not replace the Middle Ages, but merely covers them.As long as there is a slight flaw in modern times, the Middle Ages may take advantage of the momentum to make a comeback.Once we can't rest assured about the law and order within five meters around, it is possible to take up arms again!Because the world of "self-help" has never disappeared. --------------------------- Notes: