Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1026
The Fuchuan sailed on a calm sea, and the soldiers on the deck adjusted the direction of the sails from time to time according to the requirements of the pilot, so that the fleet could reach Japan smoothly.

There are no coordinates on the sea, and the difference is thousands of miles away. The work of pilots and sailors is very important.

After Xu Junsheng saw that the soldiers were operating correctly, he blew the wind for a while and returned to the cabin.

His room is opposite Qian Bingdeng, he just walked to the door, but saw that Qian Bingdeng's door was open and he was reading a book inside, so he went in and said worriedly: "My lord, Ryukyu is my vassal of the Ming Dynasty, but now it has been Japan is in control of this matter, Ming Dynasty must not tolerate this matter, and Japan will certainly not give up Ryukyu easily, so, this trip, my lord, may be very difficult!"

The King of Ryukyu reflected the facts of Ryukyu to Qian Bingdiao. Qian Bingdeng didn't say anything to the pro-Japanese officials in Ruukyu because of his anger, and he didn't stop his visit to Japan because of this. Instead, after appeasing the Ryukyu King, he wrote A secret letter was found, and a Chinese businessman in the ball was found, and he was asked to send the letter back to Nanjing, while the mission continued to Japan.

Since Ryukyu has secretly surrendered to Japan for more than 40 years, it doesn't matter at this moment.

Although Qian Bingdeng was very angry and annoyed at Liuqiu's two-faced tribute for more than 40 years, as the main court of the Lifan Academy, he must consider the issue comprehensively and proceed from the interests of the Ming Dynasty, and cannot make decisions based on his likes and dislikes. Decisions, national affairs cannot be decided by likes and dislikes and impulse.

Qian Bingdeng heard the voice, looked up to see Xu Junsheng at the door, motioned him to come in and sit down, and then put away some materials about Japan.

"This matter is indeed troublesome. This officer has been troubled by it for the past few days, but after carefully looking at the whole matter in the past few days, I feel that this matter is not impossible to resolve." Qian Bingdeng and others After Xu Junsheng sat down, he smiled slightly. After reading the information and materials provided by the Ryukyu King in the past few days, he has obviously gained something.

"I'm humbled, please enlighten me!" Xu Junsheng couldn't help but cupped his hands when he heard this.

Qian Bingdeng took out one of the several sheets of paper and handed it to him, then said: "If you want to find a solution, you should know why Japan invaded Ryukyu. After reading these, I came to the conclusion that in the final analysis it is Because of trade and profit."

"Since the tribute battle, the imperial court banned the trade with Japan, but the trade has not been cut off for more than a hundred years. The Japanese pirates and Zheng Zhilong are all engaged in smuggling trade." Qian Bingdeng put one hand on the table and sat reclining. , slowly said: "After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu wanted to restore the relationship with our court and re-trade. He sent a letter to our court through North Korea, Ryukyu, and even our businessmen, and wanted to resume the survey and trade, but we The court did not respond. At this time, the Tokugawa family acquiesced in the actions of the Shimadzu family against Ryukyu. The purpose was first to plunder the wealth of Ryukyu, and second, to use the relationship between Ryukyu and our dynasty to indirectly trade with our dynasty, thereby gaining Huge wealth."

After the Tokugawa family established the shogunate in Edo, Ryukyu turned against Tokugawa Ieyasu because he refused to send a thank-you mission to the Edo shogunate.

The Shimadzu family coveted Ryukyu's wealth for a long time, and immediately asked Tokugawa Ieyasu for permission. In 1609, that is, the 37th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Huashan Kugao was appointed as the general and Hirata Masamune as the deputy general, leading 3000 troops. , more than [-] ships, and [-] iron cannons, set out from Kyushu Shanshui Port to invade Ryukyu.

Ryukyu has not had a war for a hundred years. Where is the Japanese samurai opponent who just finished the Warring States and Sekigahara battles? He was easily defeated by the Shimadzu army. King Shangning was forced to surrender, and more than a hundred people including princes and officials Escorted by the Satsuma Army to Kagoshima, and then sent to Sunfu Castle to meet Tokugawa Ieyasu, and then to Edo to meet the General Tokugawa Hidetada who conquered barbarians. Instead of signing a direct treaty with Ryukyu, the Shimadzu family acquiesced in signing the "Fifteen Articles" with King Shangning, acknowledging Satsuma's control over Ryukyu, and the Tokugawa family then shared the benefits from the Shimadzu family.

After the Shimadzu family took control of Ryukyu, all the pro-Ming factions in Ryukyu were dismissed from their official positions, the third official Zheng Jiong was beheaded, and Xiang Lirui was taken hostage by the Shimadzu family. Fang Shengshao replaced him as the third division official, and the Shimadzu family also sent personnel to Ryukyu as officials, making Ryukyu a puppet of the Satsuma domain.

Xu Junsheng listened to Qian Bingdiao's words, and looked at the information on the paper himself, and somewhat understood what Qian Bingdeng meant. The key to solving Ryukyu lies in the word trade, but as a member of the military, Xu Junsheng's thinking is not the same as Qian Bingdeng Bing Stirrup is a bit different. The army is about strength. Japan has controlled Ryukyu for more than 40 years. The vested interests in it have not seen their fists, so how could they easily give up Ryukyu's interests.

"My lord, I took a look at it and felt that this matter is not very optimistic. Even if the Tokugawa family is interested, I am afraid that the Shimadzu family will not agree to give up Ryukyu!" Xu Junsheng questioned, "Looking at the Shimadzu family, the strength of the Shimadzu family. It seems very strong, if he is unwilling to give up Ryukyu, I am afraid the Tokugawa shogunate will have nothing to do."

Hearing what he said, Qian Bingdeng also sighed, but this matter is really not easy to solve.

After all, this Japanese country is not a small country like Korea or Annan. Although it has been a vassal to China in history, its strength is still very strong. It is not worthwhile for the Ming Dynasty to fight Japan because of Ryukyu. Can not ignore.

Qian Bingdeng was struggling, and a hundred households hurried into the ship building. He couldn't find Xu Jun, so he came to Qian Bingdeng's room. He happened to see both of them there, so he stood at the door and reported directly: " Master Qian, General, there is a large fleet of ships coming up in the distance, it seems to be warships from the Japanese kingdom."

"Are you in Nagasaki so soon?" Xu Junsheng was taken aback when he heard the words.

"No!" Baihu clasped his fists and said, "The pilot said that he only arrived at Teshima in the southern waters of Kagoshima!"

Xu Junsheng frowned when he heard this, looked at Qian Bingdeng, and said, "Could it be that the Tokugawa shogunate issued an order to lock down the country to investigate smuggling?" He then felt a little puzzled, "But it shouldn't be so Far!"

Qian Bingdeng stood up, "Go and have a look!"

At that moment, the two of them followed Baihu out of the cabin and climbed to the top of the ship building. Almost all the soldiers on the ship stood in their respective positions, holding their weapons and looking towards the north.

In this era, the sea is very dangerous. Almost all sea merchants can become pirates. Even naval warships sometimes get a vote.Of course, generally no one will mess with the government's warships. They have no goods, and it is completely thankless to fight, because they think their lives are too long.

At this time, following the report of the soldiers in Wangdou, all the soldiers stretched their necks to look out. Xu Junsheng walked to the front a few steps, put on the awning and looked north. There were indeed some black spots on the sea in the distance, but they were too far away. Can't see clearly.

"Bring the binoculars!" Xu Junsheng put down his hand, turned his head and said to the soldiers beside him.

The soldiers immediately brought the binoculars, Xu Junsheng picked it up and looked at it, this time he could see clearly that there were a total of ten boats without sails, with a hundred oars on both sides, the hull was surrounded by wooden boards, and there were two small houses on it.

"It's Japan's Anzhai Ship!" Xu Junsheng put down the binoculars, "The last general doesn't know the flag of Japan, and he doesn't know what his identity is!"

Qian Bingdeng has been familiar with Japanese materials recently and knows a lot. He immediately stretched out his hand to look through the binoculars, and saw that on the white flags and streamers planted on these Anzhai boats, there was a circle in the middle and a "clover sunflower" inside. Then he put down the binoculars and said with a sigh of relief: "I saw the family crest of the Tokugawa family, because it should be the navy of the Tokugawa family!"

(End of this chapter)