Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 585 Contact (Part 5)

The storm that had raged for two days finally passed. Although the sky had cleared, the sea was still turbulent, with murky waves carrying white foam, repeatedly washing over the beaches of Misaki Island (now Ishigaki Island in Ryukyu).

The two Fujian ships, the "Shunping" and the "Funing", which originally sailed to Beiying (now Hokkaido), are now like two dying whales, tragically stranded on the white sand beach.

The ship was listing, the mast was broken, and through the hole in the hull, the broken pieces of wood were exposed like fragments of bones, while seawater continued to surge in and out with the tide.

On a gentle slope in the distance, nearly four hundred immigrants from the Ming Dynasty huddled together in a temporarily cleared area.

Their clothes were tattered, soaked by seawater and rain, and clung to their bodies. Their faces were stained with salt, dirt, and the bewilderment of surviving a catastrophe.

The immigrants used the wet wood they found and the food they collected from the ship to painstakingly build a few campfires.

The rice porridge in the pot was so thin that it clearly reflected the sorrowful faces of everyone. A few handfuls of wild vegetable roots that they had dug up floated in it. This was their first meal after surviving.

The cries of children, the suppressed sobs of women, the painful groans of the wounded, and the sighs of the crew intertwined, filled with despair and fear.

"Boss, the Ryukyuan officials are coming with their men!" A scout rushed down the hillside, panting, to report to the two worried captains.

Following the direction he pointed, a group of about twenty or thirty people, led by a middle-aged man wearing a Ming-style black gauze hat and Ryukyu official robes, were walking along the coast.

The visitor was none other than Yaeyama Mezashi (also known as the head official, the Ryukyu administrative official in charge of Ishigaki Island and several nearby small islands), named Ma Shunze (a descendant of the thirty-six surnames of the Min people).

He was short, with a dark complexion, and habitually tilted his chin slightly. His eyes gleamed with the shrewdness and calculation that he had developed in remote areas.

"Who are you? Why are you trespassing on my Ryukyu territory?...Leave at once!" Ma Shunze shouted in Ming Dynasty Mandarin with a heavy Minnan accent.

The able-bodied men behind him raised their bamboo spears and clubs in unison, uttering threatening shouts.

Captain Li Dehai of the "Shunping" was a bit older and had a calm temperament. He stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and spoke as respectfully as possible: "My lord, we are an immigrant fleet from the Republic of China in Xinzhou, a vassal state of the Great Ming Dynasty."

"Our ship was severely damaged in a storm during our voyage. We had no choice but to dock here temporarily, and we did not intend to trespass. We humbly request that Your Excellency grant us the favor of repairing our ship and replenishing our fresh water, considering that both our nations are vassals of the Great Ming Dynasty. Once the ship is repaired, we will leave immediately and will repay Your Excellency's kindness with generous gifts."

“Xinzhou Huaxia Kingdom?” Ma Shunze frowned slightly. He seemed to have vaguely heard this name from the Ming Dynasty merchants in the past. He knew that it was a Han Chinese force on the overseas continent of Xinzhou, but he didn’t know much about its details.

However, since they are not legitimate officials or wealthy merchants of the Ming Dynasty, it doesn't matter much.

He waved his hand, his tone arrogant and unyielding: "I don't care where you come from! This is Ryukyu Kingdom territory, how dare outsiders linger here? Either leave immediately, or..."

He drawled out his words, a sly glint in his eyes, "Pay five hundred taels of silver as a berthing fee, as compensation for stopping and repair costs, and I may make an exception and allow you to stay for three to five days."

"Five hundred taels?" Upon hearing this, the chief sailor Sun Delu immediately exploded, "Why don't you just rob us! Our ship is in such a state, where are we going to get five hundred taels of silver?"

These small vassal states have actually dared to extort money from our Great Ming... uh, no, it should be my Xinhua! This is simply outrageous!
He was filled with resentment. Although Xinhua was an overseas country, its merchant ships traveling along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were often treated with preferential treatment by local officials. How could they have ever been extorted like this on such a small island of a vassal state?
Ma Shun was publicly contradicted by Sun Delu, and his face immediately turned pale and then red.

As the local official on this remote island, he has always been a man of his word. When has he ever been so humiliated by a group of "refugees" of unknown origin?
He shouted angrily to the soldiers behind him, "They've rebelled! They've rebelled! Seize these madmen!"

The able-bodied men shouted and rushed forward, making a move to capture Li Dehai and his men.

However, they had only taken a few steps forward when they heard several sharp, popping sounds from a musket.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several muskets that had been prepared beforehand fired in succession, and the smoke instantly filled the air. The pungent smell filled the nostrils, and lead bullets hit the beach in front of the Ryukyu men, stirring up a shower of sand.

Although they didn't aim at anyone, the sudden loud noise and the power of the gunpowder instantly terrified the group of strong men who usually only bullied the island's villagers. With a shout, they dropped their bamboo spears and clubs and scattered like birds and beasts, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Ma Shunze had never seen such a scene before.
His initial arrogance was instantly replaced by fear. His legs went weak, and he collapsed onto the beach, watching helplessly as several burly sailors rushed up, roughly twisted his arms, and tied him up tightly with ropes.

“You…you all…do you intend to commit piracy?…Where is the law of the Ming Dynasty…” His lips trembled, and he spoke incoherently, but all that answered him were the sailors’ indifferent eyes and the tightening of the ropes.

After a quick meal, Li Dehai, Zhao Dajun, Sun Delu, and several other fleet leaders sat together to discuss their current predicament, the atmosphere somewhat somber.

Ma Shun, who had been captured, was tied up to one side, his face ashen, his body trembling slightly with fear.

"We've stirred up a hornet's nest!" Captain Zhao Dajun of the Fu Ning frowned and said in a low voice, "We've kidnapped an official from Ryukyu; this matter is unlikely to end well."

"Screw them!" Sun Delu was still furious, his neck stiff. "They started the extortion, and they even tried to arrest us! Are we just going to stick our necks out and let them chop us up?"

“Ah Lu, this is not the time to act rashly,” said Uncle Chen, an elderly helmsman with gray hair. “The key question is, what do we do next? What about the ship? And what about these… nearly four hundred people?”

A shipwright in charge of inspecting the vessel reported with a mournful face: "Chief Li, Chief Zhao, the 'Shunping' has a huge hole in its hold, and the keel is probably damaged as well. It won't be able to move for at least ten days to half a month, and... even if it's managed to be repaired, whether it can withstand the wind and waves of the open sea is unknown..."

"Damn it, all my good luck these past few years has finally run out!" Li Dehai couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"It's nothing!" Sun Delu said nonchalantly. "Fortunately, we weren't taken away by the Sea Dragon King. Hmm, a narrow escape from death is sure to bring good fortune!"

"How is the Funing?" Zhao Dajun glanced at them and asked loudly.

"The Fu Ning is in slightly better condition. The keel in the lower deck is intact, but it needs to replace two mainmasts and most of the sails. The planks below the waterline also need to be reinforced and repaired. At the earliest... it will take about ten days."

"Hey, this is a huge problem!" Everyone's hearts sank completely.

This means that the crew members and more than 300 immigrants will be stranded on the island for at least ten days to half a month.

"How about sending someone back to Guangzhou in a small boat to ask for help?" someone suggested.

“It will take at least half a month to get back to Guangzhou from here, even if everything goes smoothly. The round trip will take more than a month.” Li Dehai shook his head, his face more worried: “What if the Ryukyuans send troops to retaliate during this time? Can we hold them off with so few men?”

"Also, the Guangzhou trading post only has merchant ships and silver, but no soldiers. If we get into a fight with the Ryukyu people, they won't be able to save us," Sun Delu muttered under his breath.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

The sea breeze blew by, carrying a hint of coolness, and seemed to also bring a faint sense of impending danger.

At this moment, a young clerk named Wang Cong suddenly spoke up. He had originally planned to return to Beiying to report on his duties, but he seemed to have thought of something: "Gentlemen, we cannot only look westward, we must also look southward!"

"South?" Everyone looked at him.

“Yes, south!” Wang Cong’s eyes gleamed with hope. “Our Xinhua has been operating on Luzon Island, south of Luzon, for four years, and our foundation is gradually becoming solid. I’ve heard that there are already tens of thousands of settlers there, as well as a sizable local self-defense force, and two large armed ships equipped with more than a dozen cannons.”

"From here to Luzon, if we take advantage of the north wind, we can reach it in as little as ten days. If we can get Luzon to send warships to pick us up, we can fight back even if the Ryukyu officials on this island send a large army!"

"That's right, we have our own people in Luzon! We have soldiers and ships!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately perked up.

"That's right! How could we forget about Luzon!"

Zhao Dajun slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Let's do it this way! We'll concentrate all our manpower and resources to repair the 'Funing' ship as soon as possible, and then go to Luzon to ask for help. The rest of us will build a wooden stockade before the Ryukyu army arrives, mobilize and arm all the immigrants, and hold our ground here while we await reinforcements!"

Li Dehai pondered for a moment, then nodded heavily: "Alright, it's settled then. Forget about building the wooden stockade; we don't have the time. We might as well just seize the Ryukyu official residence on the island, reorganize it a bit, and use it as our base!"

With the plan finalized, this group of immigrants, who originally only wanted to seek shelter from the storm and repair their ships, were instantly forced into becoming "pirates" who had no choice but to take risks.

Li Dehai immediately organized all the able-bodied immigrants, including the sailors, totaling 180 people.

He divided them into two teams, one of which he personally led, and they rushed directly towards the simple Yaeyama government office several miles away.

Another team, led by the veteran helmsman Uncle Chen, was responsible for guarding the prisoners, patrolling the beach, and protecting the elderly and infirm.

The attack went more smoothly than expected.

The so-called government office was extremely poorly defended. The dozen or so Ryukyuan men stationed there were already terrified when they heard that the local official had been arrested. When they saw a group of "pirates" wielding gleaming swords rushing towards them, they were even more frightened.

When the muskets roared again, they offered almost no resistance and immediately knelt down to surrender.

Inside the official residence, more than ten Ryukyu constables, including several minor officials, were all captured, and the limited grain, cloth, and other supplies stored in the warehouse were also completely taken over.

Standing in the simple hall that originally belonged to the magistrate Ma Shunze, Li Dehai casually flipped through the captured Ryukyu official seal and a pile of account books, his feelings complicated and indescribable.

He glanced around at his companions, who were equally bewildered yet also excited, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Brothers, things have come to this, there's no point in thinking about it anymore! We've temporarily taken over this island. This isn't about becoming pirates, it's about surviving and waiting for reinforcements from Luzon to come and rescue us!"

He immediately began assigning tasks: "Wang Cong, you are literate, take a few people and take stock of the supplies and account books in the government office. Also, interrogate those captured Ryukyu officials separately, find out the specific situation on the island, and see if there are any people who can be used by us, especially descendants of Han Chinese who understand Chinese."

"Old Fang, take all the shipwrights and do everything you can to repair the 'Funing'. This is our only hope for rescue, and we cannot afford to lose it!"

"Alu, take your men and seize control of all the boats you can find on the island, regardless of size, to prevent anyone from going out to sea to tip them off!"

"Old Dong, you are in charge of moving all the immigrants into the village as soon as possible, organizing manpower, immediately reinforcing the village walls, setting up more lookout posts, and collecting logs and stones! We must turn this official village into a solid tortoise shell in the shortest possible time!"

The entire island of Misaki suddenly became bustling with activity.

Although the immigrants were terrified, they quickly got to work under the crew's kicking and yelling.

On a sudden and unsettling afternoon, this small island, adjacent to Tofan Island (present-day Taiwan), changed hands dramatically.

Standing atop the simple watchtower, Li Dehai and Zhao Dajun gazed upon this unfamiliar land.

Nearby are slightly messy sugarcane and rice paddies, while in the distance are rolling green hills.

Hundreds of immigrants and conscripted Ryukyu residents were busy inside and outside the village, reinforcing the fences, building fortifications, and collecting supplies as instructed by the crew.

"We... really took over this island?" Zhao Dajun let out a long breath, still feeling somewhat dazed, as if he were in a dream.

Li Dehai remained silent for a long time, a helpless bitter smile on his face: "In times of emergency, we must act expediently. Everything is just about survival. As for the future... let's wait for news from Luzon or Guangzhou."

"Damn it, this is what my first encounter with the Ryukyuans is like!"
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(End of this chapter)