The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 329: It's not good, the Qing Dynasty is coming with foreigners! (Please subscribe, please vote)

Nagasaki, Karasu.

Kara-ya is not a single house, but a "village in the city", an urban village in Nagasaki, consisting of several streets of Chinese-style houses. It is located in the most prosperous area of ​​Nagasaki. It is also a gathering place for Chinese businessmen who come to Japan to trade and overseas Chinese living in Japan.

According to the Tokugawa shogunate's regulations, Dutch merchants who came to Japan to trade could only live on an artificial island called "Dejima" and were not allowed to leave at will. Chinese merchants were treated better and could move around in the urban village of Kara-ya - finally they could enter the city of Nagasaki.

"Master Hong, this is it. This is the Chinese Hall in Tangwu. Chinese merchants who come to Nagasaki to trade usually stay here. However, this year, there are far fewer Chinese merchants coming to Japan to trade than in previous years, and now it is near the end of the year, there are even fewer people. There are no guests in the Chinese Hall, you and your subordinates can live here. If you need anything, you can send someone to the Zheng residence in Tangwu to let us know.

In addition, the Japanese government is slow to act. I will report your case to the Nagasaki Bugyo, and then to the Kombu. It usually takes two or three months, so please do not leave Nagasaki until you get a reply.

Since Hong Daquan entered Nagasaki with a trade "letter of credit", Zheng Ganfu followed the previous practice and took him to the Chinese Association in Tangwu to settle down.

Hong Daquan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the Chinese-style buildings and narrow streets in front of him.

Perhaps it was because Hong Daquan’s Heavenly Kingdom delegation made quite a noise, with dozens of people carrying foreign guns and holding the “Taiping Heavenly Kingdom” flag, coming in a mighty force.

In addition, there were hundreds of Japanese coolies wearing shorts in the middle of winter, carrying boxes to help them move the goods, which was quite a sight. Recently, business at Nagasaki Kara House was slow, and everyone was quite free, so when they heard the noise outside, they all ran out to watch the fun.

Both sides of the narrow street were filled with overseas Chinese and Chinese descendants wearing kimonos or Chinese gowns, all of them looking at this legendary army with amazement.

How did the Taiping Army come to Japan?
Hong Daquan was aware that he attracted attention, so after standing outside the Chinese Association, he turned around and clasped his fists towards the Chinese and overseas Chinese who were watching, and then said in a very loud voice: "My fellow countrymen, I am Hong Daquan from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! I came to Nagasaki this time on the orders of the Heavenly King, the True Saint Lord, for one purpose, to make friends with Japan and jointly resist the Western barbarians with the Tokugawa family; and second, to spread the True Covenant of worshiping God to Japan."

As he said this, he waved to the Taiping Army around him, and immediately someone ran to open a few boxes. The boxes were full of books, "The True Covenant"!
Now both the New Testament and the Old Testament are banned books in Japan, and anyone who reads them will be beheaded.

However, the "True Testament" written by Hong Xiuquan was not a banned book. When Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tokugawa Hidetada decided to ban Christianity, they did not even know about the existence of the "True Testament"!

Moreover, these days, anyone in Japan who has some culture can recognize Chinese characters, so they don’t need to translate a copy of “The True Promise” to read at home, which is very convenient.

It is said that there are still many "hidden Christians" in Japan, that is, "underground Christians", who have not read the Bible seriously for many years. If they get the True Testament first, they may become "True Testament sects". This is called seizing the market!

Hong Daquan picked up a copy of the True Covenant and waved it vigorously, saying in a clear voice: "Everyone, this is the True Covenant compiled by the Heavenly King True Saint Lord. Take it and read it morning and evening, and it will bring you good fortune and longevity!"

The bow of the steam-powered wooden cruiser Powhatan plowed a trail of white waves, heading straight south. The sailors on the deck were conducting routine gun drills. Following the orders of a US Navy lieutenant, the gunners nervously adjusted the shooting parameters, inserted the training bullets into the muzzle of the muzzle-loading gun, and then simulated firing.
Matthew Perry, commander of the U.S. East India Fleet, and Luo Xueyan, the Qing Dynasty's Minister of the South Seas and Shanghai Governor, stood on the bridge, observing the sailors' training with great interest. On the stern deck, Zhang Baozheng led a dozen students from the Shanghai Naval Academy who were former Taiping Army boy soldiers, and under the guidance of an American instructor, they were practicing using sextants to find direction and position.

The East China Sea in front of us was surging and gray-yellow. The smoke from the single chimney was rising. The whole ship was sailing at a speed of eight knots towards the port of Naha in the Ryukyu Kingdom. Behind the Powhatan, there were six other American steam-powered frigates, three British steam-powered frigates, two French steam-powered frigates and two Qing steam-powered merchant ships.

A total of fourteen steam-powered ships formed a strict column on the sea, which was also an invincible presence on the entire East Asian sea!
Everyone in the Four-Nation Combined Fleet seemed very relaxed. The sailors who had no training missions were looking at the sea view on the deck and discussing where to go to relax after arriving in Ryukyu. Almost no one thought that the Japanese who illegally occupied Ryukyu might resist - resist a powerful fleet of fourteen steam gunboats?
Isn’t this too stupid?
Luo Xueyan, the "traitorous agent of East and Southeast Asian countries" who facilitated this four-nation joint action, actually expected that the magistrate sent to Ryukyu by the Satsuma domain of Japan would be brave and daring enough to open fire at the "Four-nation Combined Fleet" commanded by Matthew Perry!
In this way, he could legitimately send Feng Zicai to lead the First Regiment of the Shanghai New Army to Ryukyu to kill all the Japanese samurai in Ryukyu!

If the Satsuma clan still refuses to surrender, then the next stop will be the Shimazu clan's Kagoshima Castle! When Luo Xueyan was thinking about something good, a long whistle suddenly sounded from the lookout. Matthew Perry, who was standing next to Luo Xueyan, showed a very proud smile on his face and nodded slightly to Luo Xueyan: "Your Excellency, we are almost there!"

In front of the arrogant American Navy Rear Admiral, Luo Xueyan certainly couldn't forget to flatter him: "It's really like the wind! It took less than three days to travel hundreds of nautical miles. The steam power is really powerful!"

The distance from Shanghai to Ryukyu is only about 700 to 800 kilometers, which is more than 400 nautical miles. This "Four-Nation Joint Fleet" can maintain a speed of six to seven knots, so it will naturally take less than three days to travel more than 400 nautical miles.

For the navy in the mid-19th century, it was really just a matter of steps!
However, this also shows from another perspective that after the advent of the era of steamships, the Ryukyu Islands had become the coastal defense gateway of southeastern China!

With Ryukyu in hand, the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo would not have to face powerful enemies invading from the sea.

Once Ryukyu, a prosperous area in the southeast, falls into the hands of the enemy, it will be under the enemy's guns at any time.

In history, the Qing Dynasty was extremely foolish to hand over such a strategic location as Ryukyu when the Fujian Navy had already begun to take shape.

Luo Xueyan would not make the same mistake. Even though his South China Sea Fleet now had only three steam-armed merchant ships, he would take advantage of the opportunity of Britain, the United States and France knocking on Japan's door to first take down this vassal state that still belonged to China in name only.

Even if the condition for taking over Ryukyu now is to allow Britain and the United States to set up consulates, set up concessions, and build ports in Ryukyu, Luo Xueyan will not hesitate!

Anyway, Britain and the United States can only station a few troops in Ryukyu right now, but Luo Xueyan’s new army can station an entire regiment in Ryukyu!

As long as there is a group of people staying in Ryukyu, Britain and the United States will have to leave sooner or later! Japan will never be able to own Ryukyu again.

The Ryukyu Kingdom may be the most peculiar country in the world today!

The kings of other countries might be sidelined and turned into puppets by powerful ministers of their own country, but the Sho Dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom was completely sidelined by an office called Zaiban Bugyosho, which was sent by the lord of Satsuma Domain in neighboring Japan.

Although the Satsuma Domain of Japan sidelined the King of the Ryukyu Sho family, for more than 200 years, the Ryukyu Kingdom has always claimed to be a vassal of China, paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty at first, and later to the Qing Dynasty. Even the king had to be conferred the title by the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. It's just like Korea!
The current Satsuma Domain Magistrate was naturally also a samurai from the Satsuma Domain, named Komatsu Kiyohira. This guy was not very old, only in his twenties, but he was not in good health. He was sick for the past two days, with a low fever, and was dozing off in the magistrate's office in a daze.

When he was half asleep and half awake, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps, and then one of his friends shouted anxiously: "Master Xiaosong, it's not good. The Qing Dynasty is attacking with foreigners!"

What? Komatsu Kiyotsugu opened his eyes and looked at a short, dark-skinned man who was running towards him with some confusion: "Togo, what did you say?"

The samurai named Togo said angrily: "Lord Komatsu, more than a dozen British, French and American gunboats have arrived outside Naha Port, led by two Qing steam paddle steamers. It seems that they are here to seize the Ryukyu Kingdom!"

(End of this chapter)