The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 544: Fighting Will Be the End of Satsuma Domain
Faced with a group of dwarf warriors drawing their swords, Zheng Jinshui was not afraid at all.

Because he saw the big problems facing the Japanese from the words of these warriors just now, as well as the financial and current situation of the Satsuma domain.

In fact, the entire Satsuma clan, including these dwarfs, was already sitting on the crater.

The domain's finances were in deficit, and after covering even the most frugal expenses, the annual income was not enough to pay the interest.

Moreover, every year the Satsuma Domain produced at least thirty samurai whose horizons were broadened by Dutch studies, whose minds were armed by the great Confucian scholars before the Song Dynasty, and who were able to draw their swords, practice Iaijutsu, and fire their guns.

This is really scary!

Combining the painful reality with the broad vision, once the number of such samurai reaches around a thousand, the Satsuma Domain will explode. Zheng Jinshui estimates that it will not exceed thirty years.

Therefore, neither the lord of Shimazu nor these samurai were able to resist any solicitation from China.

Of course, Zheng Jinshui, who knew human nature well, understood that before recruiting them, he must beat them hard.

Well, we have to fight. Instead of letting the Satsuma clan bleed heavily, we should just let them enjoy the fruits of the Chinese Empire's colonization?
Humph, even if they actually went to Southeast Asia to work as cattle, horses, or dogs, it wouldn't be that easy.

However, Zheng Jinshui guessed wrong about one thing, that is, the Japanese people's skin is not ordinary, uh, even the word "thick" is not accurate, it should be said that it is not thick.

He never expected that the Shimazu clan would choose to default on its debt after twenty years, and then force a renewal. It was not until seventy years later that it could no longer hold on and chose to take the risk.

"I've long heard that Satsuma samurai are public-spirited and concerned about their country and their people, but it turns out they are also so cowardly." Zheng Jinshui snorted contemptuously.

However, the warriors on the other side were not fooled. Suzuki Fujikyo shouted in Nanjing Mandarin, "Don't try to provoke us. Satsuma warriors won't fall for it.

According to the shogunate law, the Chinese people in the Land of the Rising Sun were only allowed to live in the Nagasaki Tang City, and they could not even leave the Tang City without the permission of the Nagasaki Bugyo.

Today, you not only left Tang City, but also came to Tsurumaru Castle in Satsuma Domain. You must be a spy. We captured you according to the order of the shogunate."

Suzuki Fujiken talked about the shogunate every other sentence, but in fact he was scared.

The Shimazu family of Satsuma Domain was not originally a direct descendant of the Tokugawa shogunate, but was forced to surrender. Therefore, successive shoguns of the shogunate were very careful to create trouble for the Satsuma Domain and weaken their strength.

Today they confiscated some property, tomorrow they provoked some internal strife, and the day after tomorrow they used the excuse of building water conservancy projects to force the Satsuma domain to contribute manpower and so on.

Therefore, Suzuki Fujiken and others were very afraid that Zheng Jinshui was deliberately sent to Tsurumaru Castle by the shogunate to create an excuse to punish the Shimazu family.

Otherwise, how could a Tang person appear in the Zaoshiguan like this?

Saigo Yoshibei was a very alert person. He took advantage of the confrontation between the two sides to pull the samurai guarding the door in and ask him something, and he immediately gasped.

The identity that this Tang man revealed when he entered the Zoshikan was indeed related to the Mitsui Koishikawa family, which specialized in lending money in Edo.

In an instant, the warriors in the house were so anxious that they broke out in cold sweats. Although the leader, Suzuki Fujiken, was a very rude person who would use fists to reason when he couldn't win, he was still quite responsible.

"This Tang merchant just insulted me. To uphold the dignity of a samurai, I, Mi Tengci, will challenge him to a one-on-one duel!"

"Suzuki-kun!" the warriors shouted anxiously.

The meaning of Suzuki Fujiken's words was very clear. He wanted to turn the incident of the Tang "spy" coming to cause trouble into a personal grudge against him, Suzuki Fujiken. In this way, even if the shogunate pursued him, he would just hand him over.

Quite loyal. Zheng Jinshui nodded slightly, then narrowed his eyes and looked at Suzuki Fujikawa, "Are you sure you can defeat me in a samurai duel and protect your honor?"

Upon hearing this, Suzuki Fujiken looked at Zheng Jinshui carefully. Although this Tang man was more than a head taller than him, and had long and slender hands and calluses on his forehead, and was obviously a swordsman, he was still very confident.

"Tangren, I have practiced the Zhixinyingliu sword technique for twenty years. Don't think you can defeat me just because you are tall and strong.

Besides, as long as a warrior dares to draw his sword against a powerful enemy, he has already protected his honor!"

"It's a long story." Zheng Jinshui chuckled and very cautiously took a round bomb fixed with barnacles from the guard's hand!

I originally wanted to let Shimazu Shigehiro see this thing, but now the timing is good, and letting these low-level warriors see it may be more effective.

"I think you Satsuma samurai have learned Dutch studies in vain, and you still fight with swords. If you can kill three or five people with a sword, you are considered a master.

But this thing, a tiny one, is more than enough to kill all of you."

Saigo Jibei grinned, "Tangren, do you think we have never seen a bomb and don't know the grenadiers in Europe?
If you could kill so many people with just one bomb, the Europeans would have conquered Middle-earth long ago."

"Then let's try it." Zheng Jinshui pretended to light a bomb, which immediately scared the group of warriors so much that they broke out in cold sweats.

Although they did not believe the power Zheng Jinshui described, it was still a bomb. If it was really thrown directly at them, anyone who was unlucky would be seriously injured if not killed.

Fortunately, Zheng Jinshui just wanted to scare them, so he took out the fire starter and pointed it to the other side.

"The door of this temple is quite narrow. How about I help you open a bigger door?"

"Hahahaha!" The warriors in the house burst into laughter.

Suzuki Fujiken pointed at the door and laughed, "Both sides of the gate are made of rammed earth. To think you can do that with just one bomb is simply nonsense!"

Zheng Jinshui didn't explain, but walked towards the door carefully with the bomb in his hand.

That’s right, it’s filled with picric acid!

Last year, the alchemists of the Royal Academy of Tiangong discovered certain properties of picric acid related to metals, and finally they were no longer completely ignorant of this thing.

Therefore, a more stable picric acid bomb with strict usage conditions can be developed.

The warriors' faces were filled with disdainful smiles, which were not directed at Zheng Jinshui's identity as a Tang person, but at the fact that Zheng Jinshui was a member of the "shogunate".

The Tokugawa shogunate did not regard the southwestern samurai such as the Satsuma clan as human beings, and the southwestern samurai naturally had a stereotype that the shogunate was using map cannons.

In this stereotype, the image of the shogunate's arrival among the samurai of Satsuma Domain was that of greed, ignorance, lack of talent and virtue.

Zheng Jinshui wiped the sweat from his left palm onto his clothes. He knew the power of picric acid. He had observed the Qing army's heavy bombardment of picric acid at Macun, south of Linqing Prefecture, from the front lines. His actions, witnessed by Suzuki Fujikawa and other warriors, only reinforced their stereotypes.

These Satsuma warriors laughed loudly and continued to demonstrate Zheng Jinshui's actions to others in a funny way.

This joyful scene diluted the tension that was a bit tragic just now, and even other warriors in the Zoshikan were attracted to it.

Seeing more and more people gathered, Zheng Jinshui couldn't help but remind them, "I'm notifying you to disperse now. If you don't disperse, you will bear all the consequences at your own risk."

The warriors retreated about ten steps with laughter, which was less than ten to twenty meters. For conventional black powder bombs at this time, it was basically the limit.

"Okay, since you want to die, I'm willing to bury you!" Zheng Jinshui took a breath and lit the fuse.

At this time, the picric acid bomb cannot be ignited directly by the fuse. Instead, the fuse must first ignite a small bomb mixed with it, which can also be called the original detonator, before the bomb will be detonated.

The warriors watched the fuse burn out nervously, their hearts in their throats, but they only saw a small flash of fire, and then they let out a thunderous laugh.

Someone noticed that Zheng Jinshui had hidden at the back with three guards, and immediately called on his companions to laugh at him.

At this moment, when only one or two warriors turned their heads and the laughter had not yet ended, suddenly, a yellow-green flame suddenly exploded, followed by a flash of golden light at the explosion site.

It was as if a muffled thunder from the sky suddenly sounded in this small place like the Zaoshiguan.

After a heart-pounding, hair-raising thud, a violent explosion completely destroyed the main entrance to the Zaoshiguan Hall, and the rammed earth walls on both sides of the door collapsed several meters.

Zheng Jinshui had already walked a long way, but he was still staggered a few steps by the blast, and the warriors who were only a dozen meters away were in a terrible state.

After the golden light of the explosion flashed, Suzuki Fujiken, who was closest to the scene, was directly blown several meters away by the air wave.

He screamed and vomited blood. His chest was covered in blood from the flying rocks. He no longer had the laughter he had just had. He was only twitching like he was on the verge of death.

The yellow-green flame seemed to be gushing out from hell, and the residual picric acid splashed everywhere. As long as it stuck to something, it would not go out. It would keep burning until the picric acid completely disappeared.

A large amount of picric acid splashed on Saigo Kichibei's arm. No matter how he screamed and rolled on the ground, the acid could not be extinguished. His son Saigo Takamitsu brought a basin of water from inside the house in fear.

As a result, it had no effect at all. The pale green hellfire was still burning on his father's arm, causing the known strong Saigo Yoshibei to scream in agony.

Fortunately, at this time, the strong desire to survive stimulated all the potential of Saigo Kichibei.

He took two steps at a time and jumped into the small pond in the Zoshikan with a few leaps, completely submerging himself in the water. This caused the picric acid to leave his arms and burn on the water surface.

And this scene seems particularly creepy.

Among the rest of the people, at least a dozen were knocked to the ground by the violent shock wave. Many of them were bleeding from their mouths and noses and suffered injuries of varying degrees.

Oyama Tsuna, the son of the famous swordsman Oyama Sadamasa, was hit in the mouth by a flying stone. His entire mouth was completely swollen, three of his front teeth fell out, and the others were loose. It seemed that he would only be able to eat porridge from now on.

Yamamoto Gorozaemon, who had no emotional intelligence but was a very shrewd person, ran away with Zheng Jinshui and did not suffer many injuries.

"You are a Tang person, you are indeed a Tang person!" Saigo Yoshibei, who was like a drowned dog, climbed out of the pond with the help of his son.

His body was covered in mud and there were burn marks on his arms. He looked as miserable as could be.

"The shogunate can't possibly possess such a devilish weapon. If the quantity is large enough, even Yamata no Orochi will be blown to death!"

Saigo Yoshibei gritted his teeth and roared at Zheng Jinshui, and the other warriors who were still able to stand also surrounded him.

However, they had lost all their momentum and could only tremble with anger, not daring to say anything more.

"There is indeed no shogunate, and I am not only a Tang person, but also an angel of the great emperor!" At this time, Zheng Jinshui had moved a chair by himself and sat down with his horse and sword.

Beside him, the guards will carry with them a large flag with a red background and a golden sun and moon, symbolizing the Dayu Dynasty, held high for display.

Yamamoto Gorozaemon, who was not injured, stared at the flag for a long time, then said to Zheng Jinshui in pain:
"Lord Angel, Dayu is not satisfied with having the South Seas. Why does it have to make things difficult for our little Kingdom of the Rising Sun?"

"Hmph, you are a scholar, but don't you know that all under heaven belongs to the king and all the people in the world are the king's subjects?" Zheng Jinshui shouted.

You Japanese people studied Confucianism, and you also said that you inherited the Confucian tradition and are Chinese. Well, now the Emperor of China is calling you to go home for dinner, let me see what you will do!
"The Chinese concept of 'the whole world' has never included the Land of the Rising Sun. This statement does not apply to us." Yamamoto Gorozaemon also answered loudly.

"So what you mean is that Japan is not worthy of being called China and is a barbaric country?" Zheng Jinshui had already thought of how to respond and immediately fought back.

Yamamoto Gorozaemon was indeed stunned. Japan had regarded itself as China since the Tang Dynasty a thousand years ago, after the return of the Tang envoys.

The entire eastern Japanese territory, including present-day Kanto, was obtained by them claiming to be Chinese and educating (conquering) various barbaric races.

The Japanese nobility call themselves the Kazoku.

Especially after the great development of Confucianism in Japan over the past hundred years, asking them to admit that they are not Chinese would be more painful than killing these Japanese.

"Middle-earth has its own emperor, the Land of the Rising Sun has its own emperor, and the King of All Heavens in the Land of the Rising Sun is the Emperor of Kyoto." Someone else shouted.

"How dare you!" Zheng Jinshui stood up and cursed at the warriors.

"After the Battle of Baekgang, there was no longer an emperor in Japan. When you sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, you addressed the monarch as king, not emperor.

It turns out that you have been continuing to claim to be emperors in your hearts. This is disrespectful and a rebellion."

Zheng Jinshui firmly held the moral high ground. "There is no two suns under the sky, and no minister has two masters. I'll be waiting here for Satsuma's governor, Shimazu Shigehiro, to come over and ask him if Japan has always been so lawless!"

More warriors gathered around, their eyes filled with anger, but they did not dare to do anything to Zheng Jinshui. Only Saigo Kichibei said with a gloomy face:
"Lord Angel, please don't ask me such a question even though you already know the answer. Are you Tang people going to go to war with us?"

"Hahahaha!" Now it was Zheng Jinshui's turn to laugh, "Declare war? Satsuma Domain has the strength, do you have the qualifications to use the word declare war?
You have studied Confucianism, but you do not recognize the orthodox Confucian monarch as the emperor. That is rebellion and you must be beaten!

Satsuma Domain should be prepared for its sinking, and Kyushu should also be prepared for its sinking!"

(End of this chapter)