Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 502

On November 1790, 11, after a week of continuous sailing, the fleet of the Northern Navy arrived in the eastern waters of Fujian and Zhejiang.Of course it is very close to Ryukyu, so close that Deng Fei felt sorry for himself if he didn't go there.

His idea was strongly supported by Zhao Xin, who is thousands of miles away.Zhao Xin’s original words in the telegram were, it’s always good to have a look!It would be even more perfect if a piece of land could be borrowed as a transit base for going south in the future.

In another time and space, there was an argument that Ryukyu once got rid of the control of the Satsuma clan by submitting to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately, that was just some people's imagination.

In fact, compared with ancient China, the Ryukyu Kingdom is closer to the island country.The entanglement between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Satsuma Domain began in the early sixteenth century. The so-called poor ghosts met hungry ghosts and got together.

As early as the sixteenth century, during the era of King Shangei, the Kingdom of Ryukyu borrowed money from the Satsuma Domain.However, because Ryukyu is too poor, it is often borrowed but not repaid.There was once a national loan of 250 guan, but the Satsuma clan sent people to ask for it five times, but they didn't return it.

According to the "Zhongshan Genealogy", in 1562, 1579, and 1606, the Ming court sent envoys to canonize Ryukyu three times. As a result, ships from the island nation flocked after hearing the news and clashed with the canonization fleet.The Kingdom of Ryukyu dare not fart, which shows how afraid it is.

Beginning in 1593, under the intimidation of monkey Hideyoshi, Ryukyu dispatched silk boats to send half of the country's grain and grass to southern Kyushu to replace the military service of sending troops to assist in the attack on the Li Dynasty.In the 37th year of Ming Wanli (1609), because Ryukyu refused to help the island country to restart trade with the Ming Dynasty, and the impoverished Satsuma clan had long coveted Ryukyu trade, they used this as an excuse to launch a war of aggression. Battle of Long Ryukyu".

On September 39th in the [-]th year of Wanli (a very auspicious day!) King Shangning was forced to sign the "Fifteen Articles" with Satsuma in Kagoshima, and Satsuma has since controlled the foreign trade and internal affairs of the Ryukyu Kingdom Affairs, even weights and measures, were switched to those of the island country, and the latter has since become a vassal of the Satsuma domain.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Ryukyu began to request canonization from the Qing court from the third year of Shunzhi.It was not until the 11th year of Shunzhi that King Shangzhi sent an envoy to Fujian and handed over the imperial seal of the Ming Dynasty before he was named King of Zhongshan.Since the war along the coast had not yet ended at that time, the envoys had to stay in Fujian, and it was not until the second year of Kangxi that they officially became a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty.

You must know that the vassal state is very different from the vassal state. The vassal state is not subject to the suzerain state in terms of internal affairs, diplomacy, and economy, and it only expresses submission in name.A vassal state refers to a state that maintains a certain degree of sovereignty in name, but is actually subordinate to and controlled by other countries to a certain extent in terms of internal affairs, diplomacy, and economy.

Since the Momoyama era of the island country, the Ryukyu Kingdom has handed over a thousand stones of rice to the impoverished Satsuma every year, and at the same time has to pay half of the Shimadzu family's garrison in Amami Oshima.In order to benefit from Ryukyu's trade with China and fear that China would question it, the Satsuma clan tried their best to conceal the fact of the invasion of Ryukyu.On the one hand, Ryukyu was afraid of offending Satsuma, and on the other hand, he was afraid that Manchu would cut off the trade between the two sides because of this matter, and also helped cover up the truth.

This means that Ryukyu is not only a vassal state under the Chinese canonization system, but also a vassal state of the Satsuma clan under the Japanese vassal system.It sounds nice to call it "two genus", but it sounds ugly to say "sitting on the wall".

The relationship between China and Ryukyu in the Qing Dynasty can be summed up as a close and friendly suzerain-vassal relationship.Compared with other suzerains, there has never been any territorial disputes.For about 200 years, although there were celestial dynasties and vassal states, the Manchu Qing had no attempt or actual intervention in the internal affairs of Ryukyu.

It is precisely because of this that the Ming and Qing Dynasties exerted only a subtle and superficial political influence on Ryukyu.Similarly, the influence of Chinese culture on Ryukyu people's ideology, behavior patterns and way of life is also extremely superficial.

Historically, until the 70s, the Qing Dynasty did not know the fact that Ryukyu had two boats.When the later Chinese people realized the importance of the Ryukyu Islands, they had been ruled by the island country for more than 300 years.

Because of the poor resources, Ryukyu relies heavily on intermediary sea trade, and the purpose of becoming a vassal state of China is to go for "tributary trade".They will send the rewarded goods obtained from the tribute to overseas countries for trading, and then transport the goods purchased from Southeast Asian countries to China to conduct tribute trade again.For the vassal states around ancient China, economic and political interests were the purpose of tribute.

Although Taizu of the Ming Dynasty had bestowed 36 surnames on Ryukyu Fujian people who were good at sailing boats, those people were loyal to the Shang family after all.Even if the Chinese descendants of Kume Village can become the first-rank third judges, they cannot completely control the court after all.

In the 37th year of Wanli, Zheng Jiong, the third official from Jiumi, led an armed resistance and was finally captured by the Satsuma clan.The Satsuma domain sent him to Kagoshima for residential surveillance.During his captivity, Zheng Jiong also sent a letter to the Ryukyu Museum through a businessman in Nagasaki, intending to ask him to forward it to the governor of Fujian at that time, begging the Ming court to send troops to rescue.As a result, the businessman met the Ryukyu mission on the way to Beijing, and finally sold the secret letter to the Ryukyu king's uncle Mao Anton and Naha native Yu Meiyu at a high price, and then handed it over to the Satsuma clan.

Two years later, the Satsuma clan escorted the captured Ryukyu monarchs to Daxing Temple and forced them to sign a surrender form.Zheng Pei refused to sign the letter of surrender, Shimadzu was furious, and finally cooked Zheng Jiong with a tripod.
Three years ago, in order to avenge the patriarch Date Shigemura, the Sendai Fan asked Beihai Town for help.After a great battle at Ridang Mountain, Shigeho Shimadzu, the former head of the family and the old man of Haigou Gongfang, died in battle. The successor, Shimadzu Qixuan, abandoned his country and fled to Ryukyu.Of the 21 counties in Southern Kyushu, the Sendai Fan took eighteen of them, and Beihai Town took the most important three counties of Izumi, Isa and Hishikari.

Since then, the 600-year rule of the Shimadzu family on the island of Kyushu has disintegrated, and the Sendai Fan, with the support of Beihai Town, has officially turned against the Tokugawa shogunate.

Although the Shimadzu family was defeated in the island country, the emaciated old raven was bigger than an ant after all.Unfortunately, Ryukyu is that ant.Back then, Tokugawa Ieyasu had acquiesced that the Amami Islands were the direct territory of the Shimadzu family, and the Satsuma clan had cultivated them here for nearly 200 years.So Shimazu Qixuan fled to Dao Island (Amami Oshima) with a group of retainers, and at the same time he also completely inherited the Satsuma Domain's imperial fleet of sixty debate ships.

Although Amami Oshima is larger than Lake Biwa, which is enough for Shimadzu Qixuan to dominate, but it is too close to South Kyushu, the straight-line distance is only more than 700 miles, and Date Village, who guards South Kyushu, often spends minutes You can bring the fleet to kill.

At the beginning, Shimadzu Qixuan also entrusted the Ryukyu merchants to negotiate with Date Village Chang, and offered to hand over [-] shi of rice and [-] dans of brown sugar every year in exchange for an armistice.But Yida Village, which has the support of Beihai Town, often scoffs at this. Isn't it good for me to take the sugarcane field to sell brown sugar?Besides, Beihai Town also promised to teach him the technique of refining sugar.

So the exiles of the Shimadzu family thought together, forget it, it is definitely useless to count on the shogunate, and they should continue to run south.The next stop of this group of people went to Okinawa Island, which is [-] miles away from Southern Kyushu. The Shimadzu family has a practice office in Naha Port. country.

It is said that Ryukyu, which is in the lonely sea, has almost no foreign enemies except for the time when it was invaded by the Shimadzu family more than 100 years ago.There has been no war for many years, and the weapons are useless.After the remnants of the Shimadzu family landed, in addition to a hundred palace guards in the Zhongshan Kingdom, the common people had only sticks, kitchen knives, hatchets, and bamboo poles to defend against the enemy.How the hell can you defeat a group of vicious exiled warriors?

Since then, the sad reminder era of the country on the wall began.In only half a year, King Shangmu was completely emptied, and Shimadzu Qixuan ascended to the position of Ryukyu Shadow King step by step.

Not only important departments such as Guoxiangfu, Judiciary, Duzhiguan, Iron Metallurgy Bureau, Metallurgical Bureau, Carrier Zuoku, Carrier Youku, Guangfeng Warehouse, Armed Forces Division, and even the following prefectures were all controlled by Shimadzu's vassals. Even royal institutions such as the inner palace, the inner kitchen, and the dining hall are under control.

Although the Beihai No. [-] passed through Ryukyu twice this year, because it did not dock at the port, and it was a sailing ship, the Shimadzu family who didn't know it thought it was a ship from Yang Yi.

But regarding the blue and white Thor, Shimadzu Qixuan will never forget it until his death.When the North Navy fleet passed through the waters of Sakurajima, it was the Thunder God that took the lead.

So when the "Foresight Office" located in the southwest of Naha Port sent someone back to report that a giant white warship with the word "Thunder" written on it and two large sailing ships was approaching the port, Shimadzu Qixuan I was so scared that I almost peed, and then became inexplicably sad and angry.

"I've been hiding so far, you guys are going to kill them all!"

However, the indignation is the indignation, the Beihai Navy is really not something that the defeated Shimadzu family can provoke.So if you can't afford it, you can always hide.So he first told his subordinates that King Shangmu and several ministers must be controlled, and they must not be allowed to contact Beihai Town, and then he took a group of personal warriors to the south of Shuri for twenty miles High Miyagi outside.

When the Thunder God and the two sailing boats arrived at the sea five kilometers outside Naha Port, they did not rush in, but waited for someone from the Ryukyu side to contact them.

King Shangmu, who has been warned by Shimadzu Qixuan, warned his officials to uphold the fine tradition of "gentleness, courtesy and thrift", and never offend the people in Beihai Town, otherwise it will be a disaster for the country.

Then the Prime Minister of the Ryukyu Kingdom appointed an official of the third grade to come to Naha. This person was responsible for the tribute trade with the Qing Dynasty.

The "Aragaki" clan of the island country in later generations is said to have originated from the Lin clan of Okinawa.However, in Chinese history, "Xinyuan" is also one of the compound surnames; there was a place on Okinawa Island in the Ryukyu Kingdom era called Xinyuan, and the Ryukyu dialect called it "Arasaka".

Since Lin Hongye boarded the ship and left Naha Port, the closer he got to the fleet of Beihai Navy, the wider his mouth opened, and the shock in his eyes became more intense.

Just two [-]-ton sailboats are big enough, and the Thunder God is even bigger and scary.He heard from the vassals of the Shimadzu family that the whole body of the ship was made of fine iron, which was completely beyond his knowledge.

When he boarded the Thunder God with his two "envoys", his jaw was shocked by the scene on the deck, his eyes were dripping and his legs were trembling.

This time the fleet went south, although Deng Fei was the one who took the initiative to negotiate with foreign countries, and Wang Yuanfang was only in charge of combat, but Wang Yuanfang was still very curious about Ryukyu, so he also accompanied Deng Fei to receive them.

When the Ryukyu boat stopped under the gangway of the Thunder God, the two of them walked down the poop. When they arrived at Lin Shichang, they saw that he was wearing a yellow round silk hat with a flat top, a dark blue robe, and a dragon around his waist. Pan red belt, but on the feet is wearing a pair of clogs.The two subordinates following behind were only dressed in bunts, with buns on their heads and straw sandals on their feet.

Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang looked at each other, and thought that although they were wearing right collars, this is not Hanfu at all.It seems that he was deceived by the rumors of the people in the power plant again.

After waiting for a long time, Lin Hongye finally realized his gaffe, so he blushed, smiled and handed over to Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang who were in front of him, and said in an official dialect with a Minzhe accent: "My official, the Ryukyu Kingdom is discussing Doctor Lin Shichang, I wonder who you two are?"

"I am Deng Fei, the head of Beihai Town's navy, and the captain of this ship. This is Wang Yuanfang, the head of Beihai Town's army department. This time we are going south and passing by your country for a special visit."

Lin Hongye blinked and said in surprise, "Navy? Army?"

After listening to Deng Fei's explanation, Lin Hongye was even more frightened.He understood it according to the official position of Dai Qing on the opposite side, and he thought it was okay!One is the Admiral of the Navy, and the other is the Chief Military Officer.

However, Lin Hongye dared to mention Dai Qing, he was afraid that the other party would use this as an excuse to find fault.So he hurriedly said: "Although our country is small, we still admire China. Since the Hongwu period of the previous Ming Dynasty, we have sent envoys to pay tribute, and have exchanges with the Central Plains. We have been a vassal of the Ming Dynasty for a long time."

"Oh," Deng Fei asked suddenly with a smile on his face, "Then what is the identity of the Shimadzu family with you?"

"Uh..." Lin Hongye wondered why he didn't open which pot and which pot to carry. However, he was prepared and said with a smile: "Although the Shimadzu family has perished, they have been in contact with our country for many years. My king pities what has happened to him and bestows a gift Please don’t be offended by the temporary residence on the island.”

Deng Fei nodded, but didn't take it seriously.Because he wanted to set up a transit base here, he intentionally frightened the opponent, and immediately invited Lin Shichang to sit in the poop building.

When Lin Hongye walked into the poop, his eyes never stopped, he kept looking around, and when he entered the meeting room on the second floor, he was even more shocked by the transparent glass porthole.

Ryukyu has always been connected to Nanban and China in the west, and Japan in the east. Their fleets have shuttled between Siam, Foda Ni (Petani), Annan, Manlaga, Old Port, Java, Li Dynasty, Island Countries and other places since the Ming Dynasty. The trade business is flourishing.

Although there are a lot of rare and exotic goods, such a large piece of transparent glass is unheard of, not to mention that Lin Hongye noticed the windows on the poop building on the deck before, and his eyes were dazzled by counting them.

After tea was served, Deng Fei said that he had heard that Ryukyu is rich in sulfur, and this time he wanted to explore the way and buy some by the way.When Lin Hongye heard that the other party wanted to buy sulfur, he was finally relieved.

The sulfur produced in Ryukyu was called "white sulfur" in ancient times. It is as hard as a stone, smooth and moist, and has no odor.In addition to being used for medicine and making gunpowder, this thing can also be used for plastering and caulking on ships.In the tribute trade of the Ryukyu Kingdom in history, white sulfur was the main tribute.

For Beihai Town, sulfur can be used to make sulfur soap for disinfection and sterilization, and it can also be used to make pesticides, which are used in both agriculture and daily life.

Lin Hongye asked relaxedly, "I wonder how much you want to buy?"

"Ten thousand catties, twenty thousand catties is better. And twenty thousand catties a year."

Good guy, Lin Hongye was so startled that his hands trembled, and the tea in his cup almost spilled.You must know that the annual production of sulfur in Ryukyu is less than [-] catties, and the other party dares to cover it all.

"There are few people in this country and the strength is weak, so the number that the envoys want may not be able to meet."

"It's not easy," Deng Fei said with a smile: "You and I can jointly develop, we provide the machinery, and you provide the manpower. It is not a problem to quadruple the output."

Lin Hongye said happily: "So, please wait for a few days, and I will rush back to Shuri and report to my king."

　There is another saying about the Ryukyu Kingdom. It is said that during the Chenghua period, a treasurer of the Ryukyu Kingdom took advantage of the sudden death of the king and his son and bribed all the officials to ascend the throne, so the later Shang family were all impostors.So many traversers annexed Ryukyu for this reason.Are you okay?That's their own internal affairs, even if you get your brains out, what does it have to do with you?It is nothing more than the social Darwinism of the West.The huge Central Plains Dynasty has acquired it, and they still want to occupy a few small island countries with big boogers. Is this how a dynasty's foreign relations are conducted?Don't be an emperor, it's more suitable to be a pirate leader.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)