1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 734 The Rampage of Satsuma Domain
September 1657, 9, Ryukyu, Shuri Outer Port (today Naha Port in Okinawa, Japan).

Shi Chengfeng, the representative of the Ryukyu District of Qi State in Ryukyu, gently pulled out his numb feet, and then sat down on the tatami.Although this move was somewhat disrespectful, the liberated feet immediately felt a burst of relief.

"Ishi Sang, are you impatient to wait?" Seeing this, Yoshio Ueda, the elder of the Satsuma clan stationed in Ryukyu, smiled slightly.

"I guess it's because I'm used to sitting on the chair, so I can't stand kneeling like this." Shi Chengfeng nodded and said, "It's always been strange, it's not like you Japan doesn't have wooden tables, chairs and benches, why you have to kneel down so hard. "

"Shi Sang, you are still a Han Chinese, and you don't even know the etiquette of kneeling in Japan?" Yoshio Ueda sneered, "In Japan, kneeling is the right seat. In layman's terms, kneeling is a variety of sitting postures." The most formal way of sitting is a kind of respected etiquette of the Japanese. This kind of etiquette was passed down from your Chinese mainland thousands of years ago (During the Northern and Southern Dynasties)."

"Oh?" Shi Chengfeng couldn't help laughing, "It's unexpected that you Japanese respect the inheritance of our Chinese civilization so much, and it continues to this day. It's really not easy." He said, feeling a little complacent in his heart.

Yoshio Ueda shook his head, picked up a glass of sake, and slowly sipped it.

Beside the low table where the two are sitting, two chefs from Japan are concentrating on making sashimi, a unique Japanese flavor.

I saw one of the chefs fish out a fish from the fish tank, check it with the two people present as a gesture of goodwill, then wrap the head of the fish with a wet towel, then pick up a sharp knife and use it The superb skill of slicing fish cut off all the meat on both sides of the fish one by one.He actually made the live fish into sushi on the spot, and put it on the two people's dinner plates.

During this process, because of the wet towel wrapping, it was ensured that the fish would not die from lack of oxygen, and the chef cut the knife quickly without letting the fish stick to a little blood.After slicing the fish, put the fish with only the skeleton back into the fish tank.

What was frightening was that the meatless fish was still swimming flexibly in the water, which made Shi Chengfeng's stomach churn when he was sitting on the side.

This is really a perverted "food"!
"How? In Japan, this kind of fish without flesh and blood is called bone swimming." Yoshio Ueda picked up the fish fillet on the plate with chopsticks without any scruples, put it in his mouth, and slowly tasted it. "Shi Sang, look, the ingredients are still alive, but I have already eaten them. Haha... You may not know that as long as the chef fillets the fish fast enough, the fish will not feel pain."

"You're not that fish, how do you know that it won't feel pain?" Shi Chengfeng looked at the "bone fish" still swimming in the fish tank, and then at the fish fillets on the dinner plate, he didn't have any appetite.

"Ishi Sang, don't you think that a fish with only a skeleton struggling desperately to survive in the water has a different kind of beauty?" Yoshio Ueda said with a bit of cruelty.

"..." Shi Chengfeng glanced at Yoshio Ueda, who was eating with gusto, and thought how could this little man, who usually looks gentle, have such a weird and cruel hobby.This way of eating is not as good as cutting the fish in half with a single knife, either grilling or steaming, and such a piece of live fish, no matter how you look at it, you feel very horrified.

Yoshio Ueda didn't care about the incomprehension of the Qi people in front of him, because in the eyes of the Japanese, they have long been accustomed to eating like this, and some Japanese even made goose intestines from live goose in order to eat the freshest goose intestines. The bizarre behavior of forcibly tearing out the intestines in the anus.

This "bone fish" swimming in "Juemei" can't live for long without fish meat, because there is no muscle tissue to transmit nutrients and block bacteria. Maybe they will die on the back feet as soon as the diners go out.

And not only fish, but all kinds of seafood, the Japanese can make sashimi, and they are no longer satisfied with the method of killing seafood and eating it. It is the freshest and most delicious for them to put live ingredients into their mouths.

However, just when Shi Chengfeng thought that there was only this "reserved" program for this meal, another chef brought up a plate of squid.He just cut off the inedible parts of the squid, kept the head and feet, and then sprinkled a few simple seasonings.Stimulated squid, constantly shaking in the bowl.Yoshio Ueda cut off parts of these still-swimming squids with a knife, and then sent them straight into the mouth, the tentacles of the squids exposed at the corners of the mouth were still shaking.

"Mr. Ueda, is this a Hongmen banquet today?" Shi Chengfeng asked coldly.

"Hongmen Banquet?" Yoshio Ueda was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, "I know Hongmen Banquet, it seems to be a major event that happened in your Chinese history more than 1000 years ago. Well, yes, it is the dispute between Chu and Han."

Yoshio Ueda stood up, waved his hand, and signaled the two chefs to leave the room.

"If that man named Xiang Yu had killed Liu Bang more than 1000 years ago, would your Chinese history have been completely changed?"

"Mr. Ueda, just say what you have to say, and don't go around the corner."

"Hehe..." Yoshio Ueda smiled, "Although you Qi people are all from Ming Dynasty and have inherited Chinese culture, it seems that you have completely abandoned the virtues of humility and gentleness of the Han family. On the contrary, you have become more and more greedy, and Aggressive."

"..."

"Three years ago, you Qi people said that a leased stronghold in the northeast of Ryukyu was only used as an anchorage for fishermen and a trade transit point. But now, it seems that you have built it into a strong military fortress. An attack base against our Satsuma domain. Moreover, you are still not satisfied with this, and continued to establish two strongholds in the central and southern parts of Ryukyu, and also transferred Ryukyu Prince Shang Zhen and dozens of important officials to your establishment stronghold."

"What exactly do you want to do with this move by the Qi Kingdom?!"

"The Prince of Ryukyu didn't transfer him on our own initiative, but he was visiting the middle school and was bedridden due to illness, so he had to temporarily live in the south." Shi Chengfeng argued: "Furthermore, the new two-year-old son you mentioned in your words The stronghold is not controlled by our Qi Kingdom, but the King of Ryukyu allowed our Qi Kingdom Trading Company to settle in, thinking that Ryukyu will build various factories and add a ship repair shop to prosper the Ryukyu market."

"Really?" Yoshio Ueda asked in a savage voice, and as he spoke, he gently pulled out a Japanese sword from the wall, and slid a finger of his left hand lightly, and a few drops of blood immediately rolled on the tip of the knife.

"You have been cooperating with the Mori family of the Changzhou domain two years ago to lay a direct trade channel to Edo. So, are you going to leave us Shimadzu?"

"Mr. Ueda, you may have misunderstood us. If Lord Shimadzu has any objections to this, we can send someone from Qi to Kagoshima to discuss it." Shi Chengfeng stared at Yoshio Ueda, and couldn't help but Panic.This Japanese should not have come over with a knife, right?
"The feudal lord no longer trusts your country of Qi, and probably won't listen to your sophistry." Yoshio Ueda shook his head and said, "Do you want our Satsuma clan to become a bone fish without flesh and blood, swimming in the water poignantly?" In motion, slowly waiting for death. Or, like that squid, although it is still dying, but in the end it is impossible to escape from the mouth of your country of Qi."

"Mr. Ueda, why did you say that..." Shi Chengfeng suddenly felt a throbbing in his heart, stretched out his right hand to support the tatami, and was about to stand up.

"Our Satsuma clan has our own pride and dignity. Some things belong to us and cannot be taken away by you. Therefore, we want to punish you Qi, and let you know that we Japanese It also has the noble quality of preferring jade to pieces rather than tiles." Saying that, Yoshio Ueda looked ferocious, raised the Japanese sword in his hand high, and swung it fiercely at Shi Chengfeng.

"what!"

Caught off guard, the long knife slashed across Shi Chengfeng's left cheek, and slashed fiercely on his chest, a deep bloody mouth turned out, and the blood instantly spilled all over the floor under his feet.

"I heard that at this time, most of your ships are participating in a grand battle in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the rest of the ships traveling here are probably immigrant ships without armed forces." Yoshio Ueda kicked Stepping on Shi Chengfeng's chest, looking at the terrified eyes of the other party, "We will mobilize all our forces and take this opportunity to capture your Hanxing Island (today's Miyako Island), Xinghe Island (today's Ishigaki Island), Fish Head Island (Irabu Island in the northwest of Miyako Island in Japan today), Fort Anto (Nago City in the north of Okinawa Island in Japan today)..., and all your strongholds, and kill all of you. In this way, you Only then can the state of Qi learn how to respect others, how to know how to be humble and courteous."

After speaking, he cut off Shi Chengfeng's head with a sharp blow.

"Immediately release the fireworks at the pier, notify the samurai at sea, and land in Ryukyu immediately!" Yoshio Ueda wiped the blood on his face, and turned back to several samurai who heard the sound and barged in.
-
October 10, Pizhou, Xinyi.

Thousands of people with only their small belongings, helped the old and the young and walked eastward. On both sides of the team, a few hundred officers and soldiers of the Qi State in blue and black military coats held muskets and watched the team closely. progress status.

All the people, with miserable expressions on their faces, walked in the fields in the early winter with deep feet and shallow feet.From time to time, there were bursts of suppressed crying in the team. No one knew where these "black-clothed thieves" (as the government said) would escort them, and what fate awaited them.

In May, King Qin of the Ming Dynasty, Taishi, and Dongge University scholar Sun Kewang, who had made several northern expeditions to clear the captives without making any progress, finally lowered their stance and sent people to Hanxing Island, requesting Qi to send powerful naval ships and firearms troops. Behind the Qing Dynasty and on the surface of the Yangtze River, it covered the Ming army's move across the river before the Northern Expedition.

According to Ming's combat deployment, the Northern Expedition will be divided into three groups. The west route will be dominated by Liu Wenxiu from Sichuan, attacking Hanzhong; , Attacking Jianghuai, advancing to Shandong and Hebei.In addition, Sun Kewang also ordered Zheng Zhilong and Zhang Huangyan to attack Nantong and Taizhou, and cooperate with the main force to flank the Jianghuai coastal prefectures and counties.

The Qi State needs to send main ships to cover the middle and east roads to cross the river, and provide powerful artillery units to cooperate with the army to attack the city and pull out the village.At the same time, combined with the territories of Tamna Island (now Jeju Island, South Korea) and Yunzhou (now Hokkaido, Japan) in the Ming Dynasty, they made small-scale landings in Liaodong, Tianjin, Shandong and other places, bluffing to disrupt the back road of the Qing Dynasty.

At that time, the entire Northern Expedition military operation will mobilize more than [-] troops and millions of civilians, with a front stretching thousands of kilometers, trying to occupy Hanzhong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jianghuai in the first phase of the military operation. Push it to Shanshan, Hebei, and Shandong to minimize the ruled area of ​​​​the Qing captives.

The battle started at the end of July, and Liu Wenxiu on the West Road progressed very smoothly in the early stage. In August, they invaded Hanzhong from Bazhou (now Bazhong City, Sichuan Province) and Guangyuan respectively. Retreat to Xi'an, and then rely on the dangerous pass to block the Ming army on the front line of the Qinling Mountains.

Bai Wenxuan in the middle road was on the Huguang battlefield, winning first and then losing. After successfully conquering Wuchang, on August 8, he was attacked by more than 18 cavalry from the Qing in Suizhou, losing more than 8 troops, and fled back to Wuchang in embarrassment; The captives swung their troops to the west and rushed towards Jingzhou in a swift manner. On August 24, the Ming army was caught off guard and suffered another defeat, and had to retreat to the south bank of the Yangtze River.

The Ming army of Li Dingguo's department in Jiangxi Province crossed the Yangtze River on August 8, broke through Anqing in the First World War, and then broke through Tongcheng, Lujiang, and Shucheng. On August 10, more than 8 troops gathered to besiege Luzhou (now Hefei City, Anhui ), the Qing captives defended the city to the death, and launched a tragic offensive and defensive battle with the Ming army.

On August 8, Sun Kewang's troops on the East Road crossed the Yangtze River from Nanjing and Zhenjiang respectively under the cover of Qi's naval ships, entered Pukou and Yangzhou, and then quickly attacked northward.

Xing'an Hou Feng Shuangli led 8 troops after breaking through Pukou, occupying Chuzhou on August 15; falling into Fengyang on August 8; breaking Suzhou on September 25; and advancing on Xuzhou on September 9.

Zhenlu Hou Zhang Hu led more than 8 troops. After capturing Yangzhou, he quickly swept the surrounding counties and conquered Jiangdu, Yizhen (now Yizheng City), and Taixing successively. Then on August 17, he went north to attack Gaoyou. ; along the canal, advancing both land and water, on August 8, occupied Baoying; on September 24, seized Huai'an; on September 9, conquered Suqian; Feng Shuangli joined forces and besieged Xuzhou together.

Compared with the main force of Sun Kewang's Ming army advancing rapidly, Zheng Zhilong and Zhang Huangyan, who were partial divisions, made slow progress.In mid-August, the two crossed the Yangtze River respectively, and after attacking Taizhou and Nantong, they divided their troops to attack various places in Jiangbei. At the beginning of September, when Sun Kewang's Ming army had advanced to the vicinity of Xuzhou, the two led their troops to attack northward slowly. Come. In mid-September, Zheng Jun captured Guannan County, and Zhang Huangyan's troops captured Xiangshui County, and then garrisoned no troops, waiting for news from the Xuzhou battlefield.

The Qi army mobilized and assembled more than 7 soldiers from three battalions of the Marine Corps, more than 27 soldiers from Hanxing Island and Changshan Island, more than [-] soldiers from the Loyalty Army (formed by recruited wandering Japanese warriors), and more than [-] soldiers from the Self-Salvation Army (formed by refugees from Ming Dynasty). ) The three battalions headed more than [-], with a total strength of [-]. On July [-], they landed in Haizhou (now Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province), and then quickly attacked westward.

The Qing troops stationed in towns and counties along the way all fled after seeing the Qi army mainly in black uniforms, which made the Qi army advance very fast.At the beginning of September, knowing that Sun Kewang's main force had advanced to Xuzhou, he boldly continued to attack westward. On September 8, after only two rounds of artillery bombardment, the Qing army in Pizhou City opened four gates and moved the city. surrender.

The Qing army seems to have a deep sense of fear for the Qi State army, not to mention the wild battle with them, even if they defend the city, it is only a symbolic defense for half a day, and then either surrender the city or abandon the city to escape .

This time, in conjunction with the Northern Expedition of the Ming Army, the Qi Army completely relied on its own strength to penetrate more than 140 kilometers inland, occupying one state and three counties, but its own losses were extremely slight.In view of the fact that Xuzhou has gathered nearly 20 troops from both the Ming and Qing Dynasties (after Li Dingguo conquered Luzhou, he also led [-] troops to Xuzhou), preparing for a grand strategic decisive battle, the Qi army with more than [-] troops naturally did not He rushed over at the meeting and got involved rashly, so he stopped in Pizhou to watch closely the outcome of the battle.

Now that it has controlled such a vast area and a population of more than [-], the Qi army will naturally not give up these immigration resources easily. While paying attention to the Xuzhou battle, the Qi army immediately launched a large-scale population migration operation in the controlled area.

In the past two months, Xuzhou's offensive and defensive battle has been bloody and slow. On the more than 100-kilometer road from Pizhou to Haizhou, there is an endless stream of people migrating every day, and the passing vehicles are even more invisible.All the resources in the controlled area were utilized, and the treasuries and farms owned by landlords, big households, and gentry were all dedicated to the Qi army "free of charge" under the threat of the Qi army's shining bayonets.

"Ryukyu was attacked by the Satsuma clan! Hanxing Island and Xinghe Island were also besieged by them!..."

In the yamen of Pizhou Prefecture, all the officers of the Qi army and the civil affairs officials recruited were stunned when they heard the news from the messenger, and did not say a word for a long time.

"...What's the situation in Ryukyu now?" He Yunfeng, Commander-in-Chief of the Qi State Army in Daming, Lieutenant Zhaoxin (Colonel) asked in a deep voice.

"The Ryukyu Trading Company's station in Shuri Port was breached by the Japanese, and everyone is afraid of disaster."

"...Yutou Island was also captured by the Japanese, and Hanxing Island and Xinghe Island repelled the Japanese attack."

"...Fort Anton lost contact temporarily, and the situation is unknown."

"... Commander Luo of the Ryukyu Fleet has led five warships back to Hanxing Island."

"Let's prepare...to retreat." He Yunfeng said unwillingly.

"Will follow-up immigration continue?"

"How many people have been relocated?"

"It is estimated that there are 12 to 13 people. ... There are probably 3 to [-] people on the road."

"Relocate another 3 people and evacuate to the seaside with us." He Yunfeng ordered.

(End of this chapter)