Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 138 The Poor Ryukyu Kingdom
"General, I have spotted a large fleet of warships 20 miles away. According to a rough calculation, there are 20 Ataka ships and 3 ironclad ships, and the overall speed is about 3 knots. However, there is no Shimazu family crest on the ships, but the Kabayama family crest."
"That's right. The Kabayama family is a branch of the Shimazu family. Well, you haven't been discovered by them, have you?"
"Probably not. I had the latest eight-fold telescope from Fangshan to help me, so I must have spotted the enemy first. Plus, the new trimaran provided by Changsha Shipyard has a speed of over 20 knots with the wind. After I spotted the enemy and roughly counted their number, I quickly retreated. I guess I was not spotted by the enemy."
"Okay." Patting the scout's shoulder, Li Guozhu turned around and said, "Pass the order. The whole team will retreat 20 nautical miles to the northwest."
Because of the soft sails on the Western-style sailing ships, the number of sailors on the whole ship must be extremely large. So as soon as Li Guozhu gave an order, the decks of the entire fleet immediately became busy.
"General, should we clear the way and let those savages from Satsuma go and rob Ryukyu first?"
"Of course. Otherwise, we can just wipe out the Shimazu navy right here. The Ryukyu people don't know anything, so how can we get any benefit from this?"
"Hey, hey, that's as it should be. That's as it should be. This way, Manager Cao's face should look better."
"Yeah, damn, everything is fine following His Highness, except that Cao Sanxi's face is too ugly! All right, hurry down and do your work!"
…
On the other side of the sea.
"Sir, the lookout just reported that a mast was vaguely seen in the southwest, but when we wanted to confirm it again, it suddenly disappeared."
"What?"
The commander of the Shimazu navy was Hisataka Kabayama, who was currently the Minister of Administration and the Lord of Mino. As a member of the Shimazu family, he had participated in the Korean invasion more than ten years ago and had led the navy to fight against Yi Sun-sin. Although he was badly beaten by the invincible turtle ships of Korea at that time, he still had rich experience in commanding water battles.
This time, his fleet included more than 300 Shimazu samurai and more than 2,700 temporarily recruited foot soldiers and sailors. This amount of force was really all out for the Shimazu family.
Before setting off, Hisataka Kabayama received two different orders.
The order of the head of the family, Shimazu Tadatsune, was to completely plunder the Ryukyu Kingdom and take away all the gold and silver in order to alleviate the Shimazu family's finances which were on the verge of bankruptcy.
Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu's order was to take control of the Ryukyu Kingdom and use it as a springboard to try to restore ties with the Ming Dynasty and normalize relations between the two countries.
Shimazu Tadatsune's orders are easy to understand, while Tokugawa Ieyasu's orders are more complicated.
Ieyasu was actually a very traditional Japanese samurai. In his opinion, it was not impossible to expand abroad, but we should never provoke the Ming Dynasty. That was the successor of the Tang Dynasty. How could a small Japan afford to provoke it? Korea was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty had to protect it, so we couldn't fight it. So, where should we expand to? Isn't the Hokkaido Island to the north of Honshu Island very big? It is said to be larger than Kyushu and Shikoku combined. Wouldn't it be better for us to expand in that direction?
As for Ryukyu, it is also a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. We should not be too drastic and should not destroy Ryukyu. Instead, we should use it as a springboard and strive to sign a formal armistice agreement with the Ming Dynasty. It would be great if the two countries could have normal trade exchanges in the future!
So, how to make Ryukyu obedient and cooperate with Japan to contact Ming Dynasty? This depends on Kabayama Hisataka's on-site performance.
Waving his hand to dispel the confusion caused by the two different orders in his mind, Kabayama Hisataka said: "Maybe it's the lookout's illusion, or maybe it's just scattered fishing boats. Anyway, our goal remains unchanged, let's keep moving forward!"
"Hi Yi!"
At that time, the Ryukyu Kingdom was a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, and every king had to be conferred a title by the Ming Dynasty to be considered legitimate. Its political system, legal system, clothing, culture, etc. were also imitated from the Ming Dynasty as much as possible, and Minnan dialect was one of its official languages.
However, it is an archipelago country with a total area of only 3,600 square kilometers, a total population of less than 150,000, and extremely poor output. Therefore, the national defense force of this so-called kingdom... There are a total of 12 guards in the country, which are considered professional soldiers, but each guard has only 20 people. The rest are militias, but there are only a few hundred registered militias.
Such a force would of course be no match for the hungry bandits of the Shimazu family.
"Master Jibu, we have already cleared out the Ryukyu arsenal."
"Oh? How much was seized?"
"I am ashamed to say that I only found 500 bows, 300 cannons, 300 sets of armor, and some swords, spears, etc. Uh, this armor is even worse than the rattan armor worn by my foot soldiers!"
"Hmm~~" He rubbed his mouth with a toothache, and said helplessly, "Where is the Ryukyu treasury?"
"We have searched the treasury and all the royal families' homes, and found a total of fifty gold cakes and twelve thousand . There are more copper coins, which have not yet been counted. A rough estimate is about three hundred thousand."
"That's all?"
"Hey, that's all."
"This amount is not enough. Forget it. Go and search carefully to see if there is anything new. If there is nothing, take some women from the island as compensation for these foot soldiers for this expedition."
"Hi Yi!"
After instructing his subordinates to continue looting, Hisataka Kabayama adjusted his mood, put on a smile, and asked his men to invite Ryukyu King Shang Ning into his cabin.
"Bagayalu! How do you do your job? Why did you tie me up? Why don't you untie me quickly?! Ahahaha~~ Don't be angry, my king. These guys are ignorant. Please don't bother with them."
"Hmph! General, you are Japanese, right? Which domain are you from? Why did you come to my Ryukyu and kill people without any reason? Do you know who conferred the throne on me?"
"Hey, hey, hey, I know that your Majesty's throne was conferred by the Ming Dynasty. Well, I am here on a friendly visit sent by the Lord of our country, the Lord of the Imperial Court. In addition, our country's Taiko Toyotomi Hideyoshi has passed away, and the Lord of the Imperial Court who is now in charge of our country's affairs has always wanted to restore normal relations with the Ming Dynasty, so we also need your help, Your Majesty."
"You asked me to intercede for you in the Celestial Empire, but you came to my country and started killing and looting people? What are you trying to do? Are you trying to show off to me? Or are you trying to show off to the Celestial Empire?!"
"It's just a small misunderstanding, please don't mind it." - I'm helpless too, if I don't rob you, how can I go back and explain to the master? Now, the master's order has been barely completed, and next I have to complete Tokugawa Ieyasu's order.
"Humph! My guards were wiped out. This is not a misunderstanding but a declaration of war! Of course, Ryukyu is small and weak, and it is what we deserve for not being able to stop you. However, the Ming Dynasty is standing behind me! How come Toyotomi Hideyoshi was beaten to a pulp by the Ming Dynasty when he invaded Korea? Isn't Tokugawa Ieyasu afraid of repeating the same mistake when he invades Ryukyu?"
Well, what you said is not without reason. But I have to follow the orders of the master of the house.
But now the king is angry, what should he do?
"In any case, please have mercy on Japan. Cutting off maritime trade with Ming is unbearable for our country. Therefore, please put aside past grudges and write to Ming..."
The Japanese have always had a very strange way of thinking. The most typical one is: no matter how badly I treated you before, as long as I treat you well now, you should respond to my kindness quickly. This was most evident in Japan's diplomacy with the United States before World War II, and especially with the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.
At the end of World War II, the Japanese always believed that we had not declared war on the Soviet Union during the entire World War II, and now we have shown great goodwill to the Soviet Union. So the Soviet Union will definitely not declare war on us. But in the eyes of the Soviets, if there is no declaration of war, what are Zhanggufeng and Nomonhan? Looking further, who is in control of Sakhalin Island now? Then the Soviet Union declared war on Japan...
Here, Shang Ning was not Japanese either, so he also sternly rejected Kabayama Hisataka's request.
"Oh, this is difficult. How about this, if the king does not agree, then please come with us to Japan, and our noble lord will go down to persuade the king. Come on, please go down and rest, we will clean up this place and then retreat!"
"Japanese pirates! How dare you be so rude! My death is not a pity, but once the Celestial Empire learns of this, you will be crushed into dust!"
"Hahahaha~ The Ming Kingdom is no longer the Ming Kingdom of more than ten years ago. They destroyed His Majesty's foundation, but they were also seriously injured. There are also a lot of domestic problems, so how can they spare the energy to take care of these trivial matters. Besides, your Ryukyu is so poor, much worse than Korea. Why would the Ming Kingdom devote all its national strength to retaliate against us? So, my king, you should worry about yourself first."
Just when Kabayama Hisataka was full of pride because he could do whatever he wanted to a king, a samurai rushed in and said, "Sir Jibu, fifteen Western warships were found outside the port!"
