But Song Cai has another identity, that is, the commander of the Imperial City Division’s guard post in Japan. Currently, all the Imperial City Division’s internal guards in Japan are under his jurisdiction.
Therefore, when he received news a few days ago from the garrison on Tsushima Island that a Song Dynasty naval fleet was coming to Japan, he naturally had to come to greet them.
After the beginning of spring, trade between Song and Japan became frequent, and the port was filled with ships, as many as a thousand. There were also delivery ships coming from Anou County, Iwami Province, which was later Ota City, Japan, where the Iwami silver mine was located.
At this moment, the ships in the port and on the sea saw those tall ships from afar. People on the ships and in the port stopped what they were doing, stared over there with wide eyes, and were shocked.
"What is that?"
"They are ships. Very big ships. And they are not ordinary ships."
"They're getting closer, oh my god."
"Wait a minute, look, that seems to be our Song Dynasty fleet."
"Is this the fleet of Commander Liu from Tsushima Island? When did they acquire such a magnificent ship?"
Some Song people stood on the deck, and some stood by the harbor, gazing at the fleet in the distance and recognizing that they were ships of their Great Song Navy.
The navy now flies flags.
Although the national flag was only announced in August last year, many Song people in Japan are completely unaware of it.
But in addition to the national flag, there is also a military flag on the ship.
The garrison on Tsushima Island had such flags, and these Song merchants were familiar with them and could quickly identify them.
It just made them confused.
There were only about 3,000 Song troops on Tsushima Island. They were part of the imperial guards of Liangzhe Road and were not part of the navy but of the army.
So their ships were actually troop transports, not ships with ferocious gun muzzles like the ones we have now.
So where did these strange ships come from?
The answer is obvious.
A knowledgeable businessman who had seen the navy quickly said, "This is the navy of our Song Dynasty!"
For a moment, the shore and the sea were filled with onlookers from the Song Dynasty.
In contrast, the Japanese were all terrified. For them, this was far beyond their understanding.
Even though they could tell they were ships, their size and appearance made them feel terrified, like monsters.
The pitch-black hull looked like a black hole, as if it was about to swallow everything.
Many Japanese were speechless, and some even screamed strangely, dropped their work, and fled in all directions.
"Monster, it's a monster."
“It’s horrible.”
"Run!"
There was a small commotion at the port.
However, the commotion soon stopped amid the verbal abuse from the Song Dynasty employers.
Amidst all these changes, the Ninghai Navy slowly approached the port.
Song Cai immediately sent a ship to meet them.
Such a large ship certainly cannot sail directly into the harbor. The sailors in the cabin cannot see the outside. They are only responsible for rowing, and the helmsman controls the direction.
It is certainly unbridled at sea, but if it is not properly controlled when entering the port, it is easy to run aground or crash into the port.
So it often takes a large number of small boats to slowly tow the ship into the port.
Soon, countless small boats approached. After negotiating with the people on the boats, they tied ropes to the Ninghai Navy warships and began to pull them towards the shore.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
As the boat trackers worked hard, more than ten warships of various sizes slowly sailed into the port.
The ironclad ship entered the port first, and Ninghai Navy Commander Ma Mao walked down from the ship.
Song Cai went to meet him, bowed and said with a smile as they walked, "Commander Ma, you must have traveled hard all the way."
Although he did not know Ma Mao, the people sent from Tsushima Island had already told him who the commander of the Ning Navy was.
Ma Mao's attire was clearly that of a general, so it was naturally obvious at a glance.
"Commander Song is so polite that he actually came to greet me personally."
Hearing Song Cai's words, Ma Mao did not act arrogantly. He quickly bowed in return with a very polite attitude.
When he came, the garrison commander of Tsushima Island told him about the situation here, and he knew that the Iwami area was under the jurisdiction of Song Cai.
Moreover, Song Cai represents the Imperial City Bureau and has no hierarchical relationship with the Navy.
Even in terms of rank, his level might be higher than mine.
Because the military system of the Northern Song Dynasty was chaotic, there were few military ranks, only military rank levels.
Another reason was to suppress military generals. Even the highest-ranking military general, the Three Divisions Commander, was only of the fifth rank.
Therefore, if we talk about the actual rank of Ma Mao, the commander of the Ninghai Navy, it is only the ninth rank.
On the other hand.
Even though the Imperial City Administration system is of the fifth rank, Song Cai's dispatched agency is second only to the North-South Pacification Administration, and is a seventh rank agency. Naturally, he is of the seventh rank, four levels higher than Ma Mao.
"Commander Ma is promoting the prestige of the Song Dynasty, and I will certainly welcome him."
Song Cai waved and said, "Please."
"please."
Ma Mao took down the wooden board.
He was quite curious along the way.
Look around.
The buildings are rather ordinary, just a number of low wooden houses built along the perimeter of the harbor.
The key is people.
Although those Japanese had the same yellow skin as them, and some were a little darker, they were too short.
As a military general, he was only five feet six inches (177cm), not as tall and strong as some of the particularly tall and strong men in the army. But looking around, many people could only reach his waist.
I'm afraid that five feet (158cm) is already standing out from the crowd, and if you are six feet tall (190cm), you would probably be in Lilliput.
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