Nan Ming Sun Never Sets

Chapter 390

In front of the Tang-style palace buildings, the humble Ryukyu King Shangzhi extended his lofty greetings to the registrar of the Satsuma Domain.Behind him are important figures such as the princess, the prince, the prime minister, the chief, and the tributary envoy. It can be said that the pomp has given the Satsuma clan enough face to follow.Even Gan Fu Jianlai is not really a big man, he is just the younger brother of the Patriarch Gan Fu, and Gan Fu is just a retainer of the Shimadzu family.

Gan Fu Kane Lai accepted the salute from the King of Ryukyu very loudly, and then said: "King of Ryukyu, this time I made a special trip to discuss with you, not for anything else, but to determine the appropriateness of what Ryukyu should pay to my Satsuma clan. Amount of tribute."

The so-called Zaibongxing is actually a "superior emperor" stationed in Ryukyu by the Shimadzu family. Although it cannot be regarded as directly managing the government affairs and trade of Ryukyu, Ryukyu basically cannot do anything against the wishes of the Shimadzu family.The existence of Zabansho allowed the Satsuma clan to monitor and manage Ryukyu's tribute and maritime trade, and at the same time brought a lot of benefits to the Shimadzu family.

Shang Zhi was shocked when he heard this, and said: "What do you mean by pursuing, the amount of tribute to the Satsuma clan has been stipulated before, how can it be easily changed."

"It's different today. In the past, most golf merchants went to Fuzhou or other places for trade. The ships were small and the trade volume was not large. But now, the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty can be several times larger than the sea merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty. The goods transported at one time, The value is priceless. Ryukyu is sitting on a favorable location, transshipment to Japan, and earning the price difference in the middle is really an improper profit. Moreover, the tariffs collected by Ryukyu have more than doubled. Ryukyu should pay more tribute to the suzerain vassal to show sincerity. "

This is actually an obvious blackmail, and the Ryukyu people dare not speak out after hearing this.

Upon hearing this, the Princess of Ryukyu frowned and said to her husband, "My lord, Ryukyu is a small country with barren land and cannot feed its own people. It relies on trade to earn some profits to maintain its existence. Since Satsuma Domain, Since the conclusion of the treaty with Ryukyu, the Satsuma Domain has taken control of Ryukyu's financial power, and the profits earned by Ryukyu have basically been filial piety to the Shimadzu family. Now if Ryukyu is asked to pay more, it will actually destroy Ryukyu."

Ganfu Kenyai did not expect that this woman dared to contradict him. Ryukyu culture has strong matriarchal characteristics, and the status of women is very respected, but the status of women in Japan is very low.Shang Zhi didn't speak but the princess spoke, which in itself is an insult to Gan Fu and Lai.

"Ma Shiyelang! Does Ryukyu no longer know the relationship between superiority and inferiority? You are so rebellious, you will definitely be punished by the Satsuma clan, king, if you don't want to be 'invited' to Kagoshima like your ancestors If you are a guest, please carefully consider the request of this domain, remember that it is a request, not a proposal."

After finishing speaking, the arrogant Gan Fu Jianlai walked away in a huff.

Shang Zhi looked at Gan Fu and Lai's appearance, and was so angry that he trembled all over.

"There's no such thing, it's really such a reason!"

Wang Hao took Shang Zhi's hand and said: "Your Majesty, it seems that the Shimadzu family really won't let us go without killing us. Living on their breath, not only is there no dignity, but it may even perish."

Shang Zhi nodded heavily, then turned to the back of the palace, solemnly bowed to a person who was hiding behind just now, and said: "His Royal Highness, as you expected, the Satsuma clan bullied me Ryukyu for nothing. Needless to say, it’s outrageous! My Ryukyu has been loyal to China for generations, and accepted the canonization of His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. Now I am coerced by Japanese pirates, and there is a ridiculous situation of one country and two genus. I am ashamed. I also ask Daming to help, expel the Japanese pirates, and save the world. A small country is between fire and water."

The person who was listening to them at the back of the palace just now was Zheng Chenggong, the surname of the Ming Dynasty.He arrived in Ryukyu secretly a few days ago, pretending to be a Ming businessman and met Shang Zhi.The Zheng family has been operating in Ryukyu, Japan and other places for many years, so the relationship is naturally not ordinary.Now that the war in Ming Dynasty has been pacified, all capable members of the Zheng family are basically loyal to the imperial court. He himself is a hereditary prince with a different surname, deputy commander of the navy, and infinite glory.

However, Bai Mingxiu had promised him before that the Zheng family could not only be crowned princes, but also gain a nearly substantial sphere of influence, but it would not be in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, but in Japan.Bai Mingxiu also mentioned the same proposal to Li Dingguo, but Li Dingguo was not interested at all.

After the Zheng family was absorbed by Bai Mingxiu, under the arrangement of Zheng Chenggong, some people have been preparing for the future entry into Japan.Even with the permission of Bai Mingxiu, the rest of the Zheng family has formed a similar private armed force, which is small in scale, only a few hundred people, and is trained by the Ming army.

This army is still an inconspicuous part of the Ming military system, the difference is that it is basically composed of pure Zheng family members, so it is no problem to say that it is a clan army.This Zheng's private army is not allowed to carry out any activities on the mainland of Ming Dynasty, and will only be allowed to be used in Japan in the future.

Unless there are special circumstances, Bai Mingxiu will not use the large-scale Ming army to carry out any colonial expansion activities. Almost all colonial and overseas military operations have a limited scale, and the budget is very small, and may even be autonomous. raised.

In the previous war to capture Luzon, although the Ministry of War had paid a large amount of money in advance, the vacancy was filled by Luzon’s raids afterwards, and Luzon’s military operations actually used a lot of troops and naval ships .The subsequent reviews by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Immigration Affairs all believed that Ming Dynasty's future overseas military operations should be controlled at the battalion level, at most not exceeding the regiment level, and the budget for starting operations should not exceed 2 taels of silver in principle.

This time, Bai Mingxiu supported Zheng Chenggong's attack, but Zheng was responsible for the expenses. The navy would provide no more than four ships and two battalion-sized marines, plus Zheng's private army, and even There is not enough ground troops for a regiment.

But even so, Zheng Chenggong is already very satisfied.In fact, he has always had the idea of ​​not giving in to others. He is a wise man, but at the same time he also has the inherited genes of a sea adventurer, yearning to create a world by himself, just like the bearded man in the old legend.

After all, the Zheng family still has considerable strength, astonishing wealth, and extraordinary connections. Behind Zheng Chenggong, there is the support of the Ming Empire. Division system.

This time Zheng Chenggong came to Ryukyu on orders from Bai Mingxiu to restore normal relations between the Ryukyu tributaries and use this as an excuse to attack Japan.

(End of this chapter)