Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 137 Shimazu Invades Ryukyu
On the boundless sea, more than a dozen Jinling-class warships had completely lowered their sails. All the crew members were bare-chested, with their necks tilted back, anxiously looking at the lookout on the top of the mast.
Although it is March now, the fleet is currently located at a latitude of about 24 degrees north latitude. In addition, the weather is fine today and the sun is shining directly on the deck. Therefore, the sailors no longer care about their military appearance and posture, and officers at all levels no longer force everyone to dress neatly.
"General, our reconnaissance sailboat has been spotted."
"Great! They're finally here! I'm about to be roasted to death! Pass the order, raise the sail!"
"Yes! General, give the order, raise the sail!"
After Li Guozhu gave the order, he quickly entered the low stern deck and said, "Father, the spies we sent out are back. I think they have discovered traces of the Japanese pirates."
"Hmm." The famous Chinese captain Li Dan was already over 60 years old this year. Years of life at sea had left deep marks on the old man's face like those cut by a knife or an axe. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary old man who had suffered too much in his early years. But when the old man opened his eyes, the gleam in his eyes made people feel his rich experience and firm will.
It was March 15, 1609, and it had been exactly two years since Li Guozhu first met Zhu Youdong.
During the two years, Li Dan watched Li Guozhu serve as an official officer of the court without being purged, watched Li Guozhu wipe out the merchant fleet of Xu Ge Lao's descendants without any harm, and then saw the new warships commanded by Li Guozhu. In fact, he had long admired His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in his heart.
The only thing that prevents the old man from returning is that he has too many brothers. So many brothers have followed him around the country for many years, no matter they are Chinese, Japanese, Luzonians, Malaysians or even Portuguese... If he cannot find a good place for them one by one, the old ship owner will feel that he is not loyal enough.
Therefore, Li Dan's main job in the past two years was to slowly divert his old brothers: those who were willing to stay in Japan contacted the local daimyo to see if they could get some land. Those who wanted to return to China were resettled through Li Guozhu. Those who wanted to return to Luzon, Malaysia or Western Europe were given a certain amount of silver or even directly presented with ships... In short, the Chinese captains could have the reputation they have today, relying on the support of their brothers and the captains' deep sense of loyalty!
However, in December 1608, Li Dan received news in Hirado: the Shimazu Domain in Satsuma was in financial collapse and was planning to plunder the Ryukyu Kingdom to supplement its finances!
The Japanese archipelago is made up of four large islands and many small islands. The closest to the mainland is the so-called Kyushu Island. And in the southwest corner of Kyushu Island is Satsuma. The daimyo who ruled here has been the Shimazu family for nearly a hundred years.
When the Shimazu family was at its most powerful, they started in Satsuma and once controlled most of Kyushu Island. But this prosperity came too late: when they rose, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had already established an absolute advantage in Honshu Island. Later, the Toyotomi army entered Kyushu, and the Shimazu family was defeated and beaten. Their fiefdom was reduced to Satsuma and some lands in other neighboring provinces. The total output of these lands was about 605,000 Japanese stones.
A shik is a container, and its size is constantly changing. In China, one shik in the Han Dynasty was about 27 to 30 kilograms. In the Ming Dynasty, one shik was about 60 to 70 kilograms. In Japan, after the unified regulations of Oda Nobunaga, this shik was about 130 kilograms.
In other words, after the Shimazu family was attacked and weakened by the Toyotomi family, the output of its territory was about 78,650 tons of grain per year.
According to the policy of four officials and six civilians generally implemented in the late Warring States period in Japan , the Shimazu family could receive approximately 31,460 tons of grain from their territory every year.
What does this mean? In 1589, Wu County in Suzhou Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty paid 9,400 tons of land tax to the state. This was just one county, and the land tax in the Ming Dynasty was not as abnormal as 40%, but basically around 10% (excluding surcharges).
Therefore, the economic strength of the Shimazu domain, at least in the Ming Dynasty, was not as strong as that of a strong county in the country.
In short, this poor family became even poorer after being severely cut by the Toyotomi family. In the Japanese invasion of Korea from 1592 to 1598, the Shimazu family charged in the front and retreated in the back. They were severely cut by Yi Sun-sin and Deng Zilong and suffered heavy losses. Therefore, this family was badly cheated by the Toyotomi family.
However, what is even funnier is that in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 that determined the sovereignty of Japan, the Shimazu family was originally going to join Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army. However, a general of the Eastern Army was rude to them halfway, so the head of the family, Shimazu Yoshihiro, was so angry that he joined the Western Army.
During the Battle of Sekigahara, the Eastern and Western armies fought fiercely for most of the day, and the Shimazu army remained motionless. When the overall situation was decided and the main force of the Western Army was scattered and fled, this family just retreated directly from the Eastern Army's front line as if they had just woken up... and suffered heavy losses again.
In short, this family is not normal. But I have to say that the poor people in this place are really strong in fighting.
After the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who gained supreme power in Japan, did not reduce the Shimazu family's territory (it was far away, poor, and good at fighting, so there was really no need), which made everyone in the Shimazu family grateful. The new head of the family, Shimazu Tadatsune, took the initiative to come to Edo and said, "Boss, you are so good to me. In order to repay your kindness, I will not take care of my family's affairs and come to you first to see if there is anything you need me to do."
Tokugawa Ieyasu thought: Huh? This is great! Okay, you stay and help me handle government affairs. From then on, the system of visiting the emperor and reporting to the emperor was slowly established in the Tokugawa shogunate: daimyo from all over the country brought their own dry food, took turns to live in Edo Castle, helped the shogun handle some affairs, and expressed their loyalty and obedience.
The Shimazu family was the farthest from Edo among all the daimyo, and the cost of this audience was the highest. They were poor to begin with, and with the continuous heavy losses in battles, coupled with this expenditure, the entire Shimazu family was almost completely bankrupt!
What to do? Increase the land tax? But now the daimyo all over the country have four dukes and six commoners. If you dare to play with five dukes and five commoners, do you believe that the people will vote with their feet and run to other daimyo's territories?
Then we have no choice but to go out and rob! Anyway, the Satsuma people themselves think that their fighting power is the best in Japan.
Thanks to the geographical location, the Shimazu family had trade relations with Korea, Ming Dynasty, and Ryukyu from a very early time. The matchlock gun introduced to Japan by Westerners also originated from the Shimazu family. However, there are no special products in Satsuma. The Shimazu family used to mainly engage in resale trade, taking advantage of the geographical advantage to resell the products of Ming Dynasty, Korea, and Ryukyu to eastern Japan, acting as a middleman to make a profit from the difference.
After Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, both Ming and Korea imposed a trade blockade on Japan. As a loyal vassal state of Ming, Ryukyu naturally followed Ming and stopped maritime trade with Japan. Therefore, the Shimazu family suffered heavy losses on the battlefield and also suffered a devastating blow economically because of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
So, we must go out and grab!
Ryukyu is a small country with almost no national defense. With the combat power of the Shimazu family, it is no problem to rob it. Moreover, as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it can conduct normal maritime trade with the Ming Dynasty. It is a great pleasure to rob Ryukyu and make a fortune. Then secretly control Ryukyu and trade with the Ming Dynasty in the name of Ryukyu.
Since Shimazu Tadatsune took the initiative to visit the emperor in Edo in 1607, the Shimazu family's finances have been unsustainable. Voices in the family about going south to rob Ryukyu began to clamor. When Tokugawa Takechiyo killed Okubo Nagayasu that year, took control of the gold and silver mines across the country, and began to prepare for unified coinage, this demand became more urgent: the right to mint coins was not in their hands, and the users were destined to be scraped off by the minters, and then the family's finances would completely collapse!
However, in the Battle of Noryang in 1598, the Shimazu family's navy was almost completely destroyed by the Ming-Joseon coalition. This memory was too painful, so although they had the idea of robbing the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Ryukyu Kingdom was, after all, a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Once this step was taken... those mature and prudent family elders were still afraid of robbing the Ryukyu Kingdom.
But by the second half of 1608, the Shimazu family was almost unable to make ends meet. If they didn't rob, they would die. If they robbed, they would still have a chance of survival. So they had to rob! At this time, even Tokugawa Ieyasu nodded: Let's try and see if we can restore relations with the Ming Dynasty through Ryukyu.
As a vassal in the Middle Ages, the Shimazu family had a strong sense of confidentiality, but it was not strong. For Li Dan, who had lived in Japan for many years and had good relations with the daimyo on the island of Kyushu due to economic relations, it was not difficult to find out such news.
In fact, Li Dan did not deliberately inquire about it, and he received the news naturally.
In the historical plane, even if the Chinese captain received this news, he would at most shrug his shoulders and not say much, but now the Chinese captain has decided to fully serve the Ming Dynasty's Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Hearing such news, of course he has to take action.
At the end of 1608, Li Dan, who had just received the news, urgently summoned Li Guozhu to Japan. After further confirmation, Li Dan asked Li Guozhu to report back to Zhu Youdong. As a result, Zhu Youdong was still in Beijing at that time. Yuan Keli, who was in charge of Nanjing, heard the news and immediately made a decision: Ryukyu must be saved! All the navy of Chongmingsha was dispatched to fight the first battle of the navy called the Great Ming Navy by the Grand Prince!
