In the end, it was Minamoto no Yoriyoshi who sent someone to contact Kiyohara Takeshi. Kiyohara Takeshi sent the Kiyohara family army to help Minamoto no Yoriyoshi defeat the Abe clan and occupy the Abe clan's territory, becoming a powerful family in Dewa and Mutsu.

This was the course of the first nine years of the war.

The following three-year war was an internal struggle for power within the Kiyohara family. Minamoto no Yoshiie, the son of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, intervened in the internal strife between the two sides, pacified the Kiyohara clan in one fell swoop, and completely occupied Mutsu Province.

Therefore, it stands to reason that the Kiyohara clan was also eyeing the Abe clan's territory and was unlikely to become his ally.

But there are exceptions to everything.

The exception is the power of the Song State behind the Abe family.

To be precise, it should be the arms seller from the Song Dynasty behind Abe.

Although the Ani Mine was discovered in Dewa Province, it contains huge deposits of gold, silver and copper.

But the problem is that Aren Ore is not an open-pit mine, and it is difficult to mine. It is definitely impossible to mine it in large quantities in a short period of time.

Therefore, although the Kiyohara clan was very ambitious, they were unable to make quick profits from it.

On the other hand, Mutsu Province is different. Since the Nara period, Mutsu Province has been a famous gold, silver and copper mining area in Japan.

Moreover, most of them are open-pit mines and are easy to mine.

There is a large population and plains concentrated here, making it very easy to accumulate strength and establish a separatist regime.

That is why the Kiyora clan and the Minamoto clan wanted to seize this place and make it the foundation of their family's prosperity.

Under such circumstances, merchants from the State of Song naturally preferred to do business with the generous Abe family who owned mines.

The only problem was that merchants from the Song Dynasty mainly gathered in the Iwami area in western Japan. To travel by land to Mutsu Province where the Abe clan was located, one had to pass through ten countries and travel a distance of one thousand kilometers.

If you go by sea, it will be even longer, and you will have to cross the Tsugaru Strait and go around between Hokkaido and Honshu.

Therefore, transportation is very inconvenient.

It was not until a few years ago that gold mines were discovered on Sado Island, an island west of Echigo Province, and a large number of Song Dynasty merchants gathered there, giving Abe an opportunity.

The Abe family then reached an agreement with the Kiyohara clan of Dewa Province and the governor of Echigo Province, Tachibana Tame-naka.

Abe's carriages would carry gold, silver, copper and other minerals to the ports of Dewa and Echigo to trade with the Song people, and Kiyohara and Tachibana Tame-naka would receive a certain percentage of the taxes.

This way everyone benefits and gradually they become allies.

Today, Abe Yoriyoshi invited Kiyohara Takeshi to come over to discuss the matter of establishing himself as king and becoming the overlord.

The Abe family lived in Ozawa Castle in Oroku County. Although it was called a castle, the outer city wall was actually just a circle of earthen walls, and the city was full of small, cramped wooden houses.

Only the Abe family has a slightly larger Tang Dynasty-style courtyard.

It is not high, because the Japanese are short. The average height in the Heian period is about 1.5 meters, so the courtyard is only more than three meters high.

Even so, it is already a super big house for Abe Yoriyoshi and Kiyohara Takeshi, two 1.5-meter-tall dwarfs.

At this moment, the two of them were sitting cross-legged, with a maid beside them preparing tea learned from the Tang Dynasty. The various flowers and plants in the courtyard outside the house were also trimmed using the gardening techniques learned from the Tang Dynasty, and were magnificent.

"Abe-dono is worthy of being the head of the most powerful family in Mutsu. His house is magnificent and has a Tang Dynasty style."

Qingyuan Wu looked at the courtyard with a bit of envy.

Although he was also a powerful family in Dewa Province, Dewa Province was not as large as Mutsu Province in terms of population, territory or wealth, so he naturally did not have the ability to build such a large house.

"You are joking, Qingyuan-dono. Compared to you, I am still far behind."

Abe Raiyoshi personally brought the tea to Kiyohara Takeshi, then waved his hand and the maid left with a hunched back.

After the maid left, Abe Yoriyoshi said, "I wonder what Kiyonaga-dono thinks of the current court situation?"

Qing Yuanwu said in a veiled manner, "How can we possibly talk about the situation at the imperial court?"

Abe Yoriyoshi laughed and said, "The imperial court is unjust and demands excessively. Every year, tributes from Mutsu are so heavy that everyone suffers terribly."

Qing Yuanwu hurriedly said, "Please be careful with your words, sir."

Compared to Abe Yoshiyoshi's audacity, he doesn't dare to speak nonsense.

After all, Abe Yoshiyoshi is not rebelling openly now. He is just using various excuses to pay less tribute or simply not pay at all.

The imperial court had not yet labeled him a traitor, so Qingyuan Takeshi had to deal with him.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to judge the situation carefully.

"There's nothing to be afraid of."

Abe Raiyoshi said calmly, "This is the truth. Shouldn't people speak the truth?"

Qingyuan Wu said with a wry smile: "Abe-dono has a strong army and horses, and his men are equipped with Tang Dynasty weapons and armor. Naturally, he has the courage to challenge the imperial court."

"I just don't know if Qingyuan Palace has any intention of purchasing Tang Dynasty weapons and armor."

Abe Raiyoshi said.

"oh?"

Qingyuan Wu immediately became interested and asked, "Abe-dono, are you willing to introduce me to someone from Tang Dynasty?"

The Tang people they are talking about are actually merchants from the State of Song.

Although the upper echelons of Japan did not have official dealings with the Song Dynasty, they had wider channels of information and naturally knew that the Central Plains dynasty had long since changed from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.

However, the lower-class people and the middle and lower-class dignitaries in Japan were relatively isolated from the news. Even if they knew that the dynasty had changed, they still called them Tang people due to their old habits.

Just like the country of Japan called itself Japan as early as the reign of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty, which is recorded in the "New Book of Tang", but people in the Central Plains dynasty would not say that they were Japanese, but still habitually called them Wa people.

Only Zhao Jun, a later generation, did not call them "Wa people" out of habit, but "Japanese".

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!