prosperous age

In the past, the Ming Dynasty did not specifically study how to configure the army to maximize its combat effectiveness, and often allowed the garrison commanders to act freely.

This was also the reason why Ma Fang was able to mobilize the cavalry of the garrisons under his jurisdiction in Xuanfu to form a cavalry force of thousands of people, and the soldiers recruited by Qi Jiguang could be equipped according to his needs to fight against the Japanese pirates in the Mandarin Duck Formation.

To deploy subordinates is the right of a general.

However, because it is difficult to get support from superiors and the Ministry of War, and often the required equipment cannot be obtained, there are other obstacles, so most people are unwilling to do it, and would rather live a mediocre life.

In fact, it is easy to understand that Ma Fang was able to obtain a large number of three-barreled guns needed by the cavalry because he had support from the capital, while Qi Jiguang was able to act in his favor because he was on good terms with Hu Zongxian.

Now, the same is true for Li Chengliang.

He asked the capital for Portuguese cannons, and the court allocated them to him from nearby Jiangnan.

Now, if he wants to redistribute these falconets under his command, there will naturally be no resistance.

At least now, none of these generals dared to oppose his opinion.

Li Chengliang began to urgently adjust his subordinates to adapt to the Ming-Myanmar war situation.

Because a batch of falconets had just arrived recently, and there should be a steady stream of equipment shipped to the southwest later, so he was not in a hurry to advance quickly.

On the distant bank of the Lujiang River, the Burmese army could not find many boats.

If everything had gone well for the cavalry led by Li Ruzhang, they would have burned down the Lujiang wharf and the ships there by now.

What Li Chengliang has to do now is to advance step by step, first wipe out most of the Burmese troops on the banks of Lujiang River, and then nibble away at the remaining forces bit by bit, so as to completely eliminate Burma's resistance forces.

At this time, the capital of the Ming Dynasty naturally did not know that it had just experienced a small defeat, in which hundreds of people died and a batch of artillery were lost.

In the Imperial City of Beijing, Wei Guangde of the Cabinet is on duty. Wei Guangde is entertaining Liu Shouyou, the commander of the Imperial Guard.

"You mean, the Shimazu family of Satsuma Domain in Japan might have ambitions for Ryukyu?"

Wei Guangde rubbed his temple and asked suspiciously.

Wei Guangde didn't know when Japan invaded Ryukyu, but he remembered that it was probably during the Qing Dynasty, because later generations seemed to say that before and after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the ruler of Ryukyu asked China for help, saying that Japan had occupied their country.

From this, it seems likely that this incident did not happen during the Ming Dynasty.

The reason for the concern about Ryukyu is not to mention the interests involved in Ryukyu's tribute. However, since the Ming Dynasty began to accept tributes from all nations, Ryukyu has come without fail. Among the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, it is considered loyal, no less than Korea.

As for later generations, the actions of the Korean country were actually related to China's decline in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the First and Second World Wars.

But at present, as the undisputed superpower in the Far East, no one would dare to do anything behind the Ming Dynasty even if they were given ten times the courage.

"Based on the news sent back from there, I guess this is what it means.

Ever since the head of the Shimazu family was replaced a few years ago, he has been using trade to put pressure on the Ryukyu Kingdom and demanding various conditions.

Previously, the Shimazu family and the Otomo family, who also belonged to the Satsuma domain, had a dispute. The Otomo family sent troops to attack the Shimazu family, but they were defeated. It is said that the people of the Otomo family have now fled to Kunishiro."

Liu Shouyou told what he knew.

"Is there one here? Why are they fighting?"

Wei Guangde shook the document in his hand. It was a copy of the Jinyiwei intelligence brought by Liu Shouyou.

"Have."

Liu Shouyou replied.

"Please sit still for a while, I'll take a look."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and looked through the intelligence sent from Ryukyu.

The story began three months ago, when the current head of the Otomo family, Otomo Sorin, was baptized as a Christian and officially became a Christian.

As a daimyo, he did not choose Buddhism or other sects in Japan, but chose to join the Western Church, which made Wei Guangde frown slightly.

The Otomo family and the Shimazu family have always had a territorial dispute.

After he was baptized as a Christian, he launched a war against the Shimazu family on the grounds that the Shimazu family restricted the preaching of Christian missionaries.

In fact, everyone knew that the real purpose of the Otomo family's war was to expand its territory.

You know, after the Oda clan gained the advantage in the battle with the Takeda army, they did not rest in the past two years, but continued to encroach on the surrounding areas and expand their power.

This made almost all the daimyos in Japan alert, especially those daimyos who were a little ambitious, so they followed suit, hoping to expand their territory and power in this way.

Although the Otomo army had the advantage in numbers, the total number of troops they mobilized exceeded 70,000, while the Shimazu family could only mobilize more than 40,000 troops.

Therefore, while the Shimazu family was doing their best to recruit soldiers, they also forcibly conscripted Ryukyu people who came to Shimazu territory to do business to join their army, and even asked the Ryukyu Kingdom to provide them with military rations.

Yes, although they were all foot soldiers recruited temporarily, they still had to be given food to eat during the war.

The sudden gathering of so many people meant that the Shimazu family could not provide so much food in a short period of time, so they turned their attention to Ryukyu across the sea.

In fact, making such a request may also be a test to observe Ryukyu's reaction.

As a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, Ryukyu had always paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, they rejected such an impolite request made by a daimyo from Japan.

If the Shimazu family wanted to report and impose taxes on ships traveling to and from Ryukyu before, they were willing to sit down and negotiate calmly and ignored their unreasonable demands.

Although they were rejected by the Ryukyu side, the Shimazu family was busy dealing with the Otomo family and naturally had no strength to do anything to Ryukyu.

This matter seemed like a joke, and no one in the Ryukyu Kingdom took it seriously and just laughed it off.

However, the Jinyiwei spies lurking in the Ryukyu Kingdom still found out the details. Combined with the previous actions of the Shimazu family towards Ryukyu, they came to the conclusion that the Shimazu family had ideas about the Ryukyu Kingdom.

This intelligence also included the results of the battle between the Otomo and Shimazu families that they had just received. The Otomo family was defeated and the Shimazu family won.

Taking advantage of the momentum of victory, they are aggressively annexing the territories of the Otomo family.

This is the battle in Japanese history known as the Battle of Mimikawa, an internal war among daimyo.

Otomo Sorin has always had the ambition to dominate northern Kyushu. He, Shimazu Yoshihisa, and Ryuzoji Takanobu have always maintained a three-way balance of power in Kyushu.

In the eyes of the Otomo family, the Shimazu family was undoubtedly the weaker one between Shimazu Yoshihisa and Ryuzoji Takanobu, so they thought they had a chance to defeat them.

Therefore, Otomo Sorin led more than 43,000 troops from Bungo into Hyuga, and sent another 30,000 troops from Higo into Hyuga, with the intention of occupying Hyuga.

The Otomo army destroyed temples and shrines along the way and was busy spreading Christianity. The entire army had no morale.

Otomo Sorin stationed his troops in Mushiga and appointed Tahara Yoshitaka as the general-in-chief to command the entire army.

The Otomo army surrounded the Shimazu army in Takashiro Castle with 45,000 soldiers. Under the tenacious resistance of Yamada Arinobu, the Otomo army could not capture it for a long time. At this time, Shimazu Yoshihisa personally led 25,000 soldiers to help. The two sides set up their battle array near Mimikawa, ready to fight to the death.

After the war broke out, the veteran general of the Otomo army, Saito Tsunezane, and others led their troops to cross the Mimikawa River and fought fiercely with the Shimazu army. However, they were attacked from three sides by Shimazu Yoshihiro, Yoshihisa and the Iehisa army from Takagi, and were finally defeated.

Saito Tsuchimachi, Tanakita Tsuchishunshu, Saeki Korekuni, Kadokuma Ishimune and others died in battle one after another. The rear troops of the Otomo army fell into chaos upon hearing the news. At this time, there had been heavy rains for several days and many Otomo soldiers were drowned. The entire Otomo army collapsed, with more than 4,000 deaths, while the Shimazu army only had about 1,000 deaths.

The main force suffered a crushing defeat and the Otomo family suffered a devastating blow, so they naturally had no choice but to flee. Since then, the Otomo family has declined and no longer has the ability to compete for the position of overlord of Kyushu Island.

It was precisely because the Shimazu family won and gained more power that the Jinyiwei spies sent by the Ming Dynasty became increasingly nervous, fearing that they would use the power of the great victory to attack the Ryukyu Kingdom.

"Does the Shimazu family have the strength to annex Ryukyu?"

Wei Guangde frowned slightly. After reading the intelligence, he naturally understood the concerns over there, so he asked Liu Shouyou.

"Master Wei, as far as I know, if the Shimazu family is really willing, they won't encounter much resistance in occupying Ryukyu."

When Liu Shouyou saw Wei Guangde asking him, he naturally told him everything he knew.

The intelligence only recorded what had happened recently on Kyushu Island, and did not provide detailed records of the major forces on Ryukyu and Kyushu Island.

But Liu Shouyou still knew it. After all, weren’t these people sent out to collect intelligence from all sides?

“The Shimazu family was the weakest force on Kyushu Island before, but they were able to recruit 40,000 to 50,000 troops.

On the other hand, according to intelligence, the king of the Ryukyu Kingdom could only command a thousand men, with another two to three thousand men under the command of local officials.

By the way, according to the estimates of the people sent over, the total population of Ryukyu may be around 100,000. Even if a full mobilization is carried out, it is estimated that only 20,000 troops can be recruited.

No matter how you look at it, Ryukyu has no chance of winning against the Shimazu clan."

Liu Shouyou briefly told Wei Guangde what he knew, and at the end he gave Wei Guangde some basic knowledge about the history of Ryukyu.

People in later generations often regarded Ryukyu as one country, but in fact there were three Ryukyu kings who paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, namely the so-called "Three Mountain Kingdoms".

The Ryukyu Islands were originally governed by local nobles, namely Ansi, who were similar to Tusi chiefs.

In the history of Ryukyu, these Anshi fought and annexed each other, gradually forming three major forces, namely the King of Kitayama, the King of Zhongshan and the King of Nanshan. These were the three most powerful Anshi.

The three sacred mountain kings each commanded a number of Ansi who were subject to them. These Ansi each controlled their own armies within the territory under their jurisdiction and were not controlled by the three mountain kings.

In 1372, led by King Sattu of Zhongshan, the three kings of the mountain paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

Because the tribute trade with the Ming Dynasty could generate huge profits, the Three Mountain Kingdoms engaged in more intense wars over foreign trade.

Sho Hashiki, who was originally the Sashiki Anshiki of the Nanzan Kingdom, and his father Sho Sisho destroyed the Zhongshan Kingdom in 1406, the Kitayama Kingdom in 1416, and finally the original suzerain Nanzan Kingdom in 1429, and unified the Ryukyu main island.

Although his title when he accepted the Ming Dynasty's enthronement was still "King of Zhongshan", the unified regime he established was also known in history as the "Ryukyu Kingdom", and the dynasty he founded was called the "First Shang Dynasty."

In fact, up to this time, there are still fifteen major forces on the Ryukyu Island, including the Ryukyu King.

Such dispersed forces made it impossible for the King of Ryukyu to gather the entire kingdom to fight against the Shimazu clan of Japan.

"Hiss, according to what you said, the current Ryukyu King usurped the throne?"

Wei Guangde was not paying attention to the national conditions of Ryukyu at this moment, but was somewhat surprised that the King of Ryukyu obtained his throne by rebellion.

“The imperial court has actually heard about this matter. After all, they have sent officials to Ryukyu many times, so they will hear some news.

However, according to internal records of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the late emperor and the cabinet ministers at the time had previously held secret discussions, but ultimately chose to let the matter drop. One reason was that times had passed and the original Ryukyu king's family no longer existed.

Second, the current Ryukyu King is relatively submissive to the Ming Dynasty.

Since there are no victims coming to the door, there is naturally no need to make trouble.

Therefore, the imperial court still treated Ryukyu with the old attitude and was unwilling to ask about other matters. "

Liu Shouyou told Wei Guangde another piece of news. After all, some things can be hidden for a while, but not forever.

It just depends on whether other people take it seriously and have any thoughts about it.

"Lord Wei, the task you assigned me earlier may not be completed."

At this time, Liu Shouyou suddenly said again.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde frowned slightly.

Of course he knew what Liu Shouyou was talking about. He just wanted to maintain the "Warring States" situation in Japan.

Wei Guangde knew that after Oda Nobunaga came Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and then Tokugawa Ieyasu, but he only had a vague understanding of the experiences in between.

However, according to the intelligence we already knew about Japan, there were more than a dozen powerful daimyos, large and small, in the country, so Wei Guangde felt that there was an opportunity.

Therefore, Jinyiwei spies were arranged to infiltrate Japan through Ryukyu. The purpose was naturally to provoke internal strife among them, unite more daimyo and fight against the Oda clan, and weaken them.

But now Liu Shouyou said that the mission might not be completed. How could Wei Guangde not be surprised?
"reason?"

Wei Guangde asked calmly.

"Although there are still several powerful daimyo in Japan, they have all been frightened by the Oda clan.

After the defeat of the Takeda army, other daimyos tried their best to avoid war with the Oda clan. No matter how our people lobbied, it was ineffective.

On the contrary, they chose to try their best to meet all the demands of the Oda clan, even if they were rude or excessive.

During this year, the Oda clan has been expanding their territory for various reasons. "

Liu Shouyou whispered, "They didn't dare to go against the Oda clan, but they fought each other fiercely. Perhaps they were also preparing to resist the Oda clan.

At least that’s what our people heard from them.”

"Because they were afraid of Oda Nobunaga, they attacked other daimyo, claiming that they were preparing to expand their power."

Wei Guangde couldn't say anything more and could only shake his head slightly.

Wei Guangde was actually not interested in whether Oda Nobunaga died at the hands of Akechi Mitsuhide or the Japanese emperor. He just wanted the fighting in Japan to be as intense as possible and the more people who died, the better.

The Ming Dynasty had no way to influence Japan, which remained relatively independent and closed.

"Well, since they can't unite to fight against Oda Nobunaga, then letting the daimyo fight among themselves will have the same effect. They will all die as Japanese anyway."

Wei Guangde immediately adjusted his thoughts and spoke to Liu Shouyou. (End of this chapter)