Xinshun 1730

Chapter 324 The Only Fool

"Principled!"

With a thumbs up, Yin Yang praised Zhao Baiquan strangely.

"Master Zhao really has principles. But whether I want to learn from Ban Gu or not is all Mr. Zhao's guess. As for the details, let's see. Master Zhao should not be too busy persuading me at this time."

Although Liu Yu praised him for his principles, he didn't really believe it in his heart.

To be an official, you have to mix in circles. People in Liu Yu's circle have other ways to get promoted, and people like Zhao Baiquan also have ways to get promoted.Without circles and factions, it is difficult to get along in the court.

From Liu Yu's point of view, Zhao Baiquan was playing tricks, avoiding controversial topics, and had to look like he didn't support Liu Yu when he returned home.

"I'm going to Ryukyu this time, and I still have to tell Mr. Zhao about some things. The Wa Kingdom is not a vassal of the Celestial Dynasty now. Although the looting of Ryukyu was a current event in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, as long as Ryukyu pays tribute every day, the Japanese will carry out their duties in Ryukyu every day. Heaven can’t ignore it.”

"Otherwise, tomorrow all Western countries will go to North Korea to open embassies. According to the Japanese Ryukyu regulations, do you care or not? Could it be that Mr. Zhao said that the Li government only deals with vassals and does not care about Westerners?"

"Master Zhao, think about it for yourself. You are the deputy envoy of the Celestial Dynasty, but you say you only deal with the Ryukyu and not the Japanese, so why did His Majesty ask you to come here?"

"Or is it that your government is going to hand over the affairs of Japan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the future?"

A few words made Zhao Baiquan a little dazed, Liu Yu snorted, thinking that if I didn't know how to deal with the Ryukyu King, what the hell would I have to discuss with you?
After all, the King of Ryukyu is the county king of the Celestial Dynasty, and the face that should be given must be given.

Killing people in front of the King of Ryukyu, maybe even killing the third official, is equivalent to the Sangong Jiaping Zhangshi of the Celestial Dynasty, and there is more or less a greeting with the King of Ryukyu.

If Liu Yu was a warlord of a separatist regime, it would be easy to handle, but now he is an envoy of the Celestial Dynasty, it is difficult to handle.

The Celestial Dynasty will not be idle to send official envoys to Ryukyu, but if they go, it must be the time when the old Ryukyu king is gone and the new Ryukyu king is waiting for canonization.

Because before the canonization, the Ryukyu king was not the Ryukyu king and had no rank, so the Ryukyu king had to bow three times to the angel five times.

After canonization, the Ryukyu King is at the level of the county king. If it's just canonization, it's okay, there are procedures for leaving, welcoming, sending, and gifting.

This time going to Ryukyu, it is impossible to go directly to Ryukyu to arrest people and coup d'état. It seems that it is not a celestial dynasty and suzerain vassal, but an act of imperialism.

Still have to go through the process, first read the imperial decree, and ask how the Ryukyu King flirts with Japan?Wait for the King of Ryukyu to explain before he can further "force" or "persuade" the King of Ryukyu to arrest the Satsuma people together.

There is no such thing as Zhao Baiquan who understands the etiquette of the heavenly court. If Liu Yu does it by himself, it is easy to go too far.It's not that he wants to engage in imperialist behavior, but that he doesn't know much about etiquette, and sometimes he does things that he thinks are normal, which may cause trouble in the court.

After finishing off Zhao Baiquan, Liu Yu didn't say a word, but let Zhao Baiquan think it over for himself—is the imperial court's attitude towards Japan within the world?Or outside the world?
Anyway, Liu Yu felt that Zhao Baiquan's statement was pure nonsense.Originally, Liu Yu had the military power in his hands, and he was still the envoy. The emperor might let him make a sudden decision. This Zhao Baiquan is not an eunuch supervising the army, so he doesn't need to look at Zhao Baiquan's face for what he does.

Now Zhao Baiquan has a righteous and seemingly fair attitude, saying that he has principles, but in fact he still wants to distance himself from him.

I have said so much before, and party disputes should not affect the implementation of policies, and this dynasty is not the Song Dynasty, etc. It sounds like a heart-to-heart, but it is all nonsense.

Besides, apart from disposing of the Satsuma clan, there is another matter that requires Zhao Baiquan's help.

Two years before the Satsuma clan invaded Ryukyu, that is, in the 35th year of Wanli in the former Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyu king made a request to [according to the gift from the Hongwu and Yongle years, and then give 36 surnames to Ryukyu].

However, it was rejected by the Ministry of Rites with the statement that "good people will go to other places, and those who go will be treacherous people on the coast, and troubles will happen in the future."

In Liu Yu's opinion, this matter is outrageous. Such a good opportunity for cultural assimilation is given up?
This time he came, it is different from Wanli 35 years ago.

Even if the people of the Satsuma domain were dealt with, forcing the Ryukyu king to accept immigration, and the Ryukyu king taking the initiative to submit a request, this is also different.

But no matter what he said, he felt that he couldn't handle it well, and he still had to rely on Zhao Baiquan's help.

Now Zhao Baiquan's attitude made him very dissatisfied, so he ignored Zhao Baiquan and let him think about it slowly.

Throw down those scrolls, go to the deck, and call Chen Qinghai.

"Qinghai, when we arrive in Ryukyu tomorrow, the fleet will be divided into two. Take a few ships with you, don't go to Naha yet. Just patrol the open sea. Once you find a ship leaving, immediately catch up with the captives. I will call Shi Shiyong to follow you , he understands the Japanese language, don’t ask the Japanese to report the news.”

Liu Yu was planning to do something in Ryukyu. There were quite a few Japanese in Ryukyu. Although he was not afraid to report the news, it would be best if he could be intercepted.

On the second day, the watchman on the mast saw the coast, and learned from some sea merchants and sailors who had been to Naha that this place was very close to Naha.

The boat stopped, put down the boat, and Chen Qinghai went to the other boats to continue commanding the fleet.Liu Yu commanded the remaining half of the fleet to go straight to Naha.

It can be seen that when the Dashun flag was flying near Naha, someone had already rushed into the Ryukyu Palace and passed the news of "the arrival of the angel" to the Ryukyu King.

Ryukyu Wang Shangjing was stunned, and wondered if someone had misrepresented the news and said that he was dead?

But even if he misreported the news that he was dead, that's not right, since he didn't send anyone there, why did the angel come?
Although I had no such experience before, canonization is required every time the kingship is handed over, so there are established rules for how to welcome the envoys of the Celestial Dynasty.

But what happened today is very unusual.

Hastily summoned all the ministers of the DPRK and China, this kind of thing can't be hidden from the Shimadzu family.

Ryukyu's foreign policy is completely controlled by the Shimadzu family. After Dashun won the world, the shogunate also warned the Shimadzu family not to go too far, so as not to irritate Dashun. The status quo is best.

But the shogunate said so, but did not cancel Ryukyu's Zaiban practice, which is tantamount to acquiescing to the Shimadzu family's control of Ryukyu.

Wang Shangjing of Zhongshan is also suffering, and now his heart is even more panicked.

This is going to happen!

In the 37th year of Wanli, Ryukyu Wang Shangning and his family were captured by the Shimadzu family in Kagoshima, where they spent four years in prison, signed an unequal treaty, and ceded the island before being released.

During the period of being arrested, the Japanese elder Kikuhime of Tennoji was made the regent.When King Shangning comes back, the third officer of Ryukyu must also be appointed by someone from Samafan.

The three officers of Ryukyu are approximately equal to the state affairs of the Pingzhang Army of Dashun plus the Sangong, which is equivalent to directly controlling the politics of Ryukyu.

In Shurijo Castle, there were not only Zaban Bongsho to monitor the Ryukyu King, but also samurai stationed in Kume Island and other places to monitor Ryukyu's tribute behavior.

As long as there is trade, there will inevitably be shipwrecks, perils, enquiries, and spies.

In order to prevent disclosure, Samofan specially compiled a "Question and Answer Manual".Once it is found that the ship of the Celestial Dynasty is in trouble, people will be sent to take the "Question and Answer Manual" and answer all kinds of strange questions according to the standard "speaking skills".

This is consistent with the marketing routine of later generations. Write down all kinds of problems that may be encountered, and then give a standard answer, and answer according to this standard answer.

for example:

Question: What is the number of tribute ships sent by Ryukyu to the Celestial Dynasty and the contribution period?Answer: Answer truthfully.

Question: What are the customs of Ryukyu?Answer: Since ancient times, I have paid tribute to China and studied the books of sages and sages.

Question: What are the characteristics of Ryukyu women?Answer: Emphasis on integrity and morality, even if a man loses a husband in his prime, he will not remarry. Starvation to death is a small matter, but loss of integrity is a major matter.

Question: I heard that among the 36 islands of the Ryukyu Islands, Oshima, Tokunoshima, Kisuke Island, Yoron Island, and Nagabe Island are dominated by Japan.Is that the truth?Answer: The 36 islands have been belonging to the Ryukyu Islands since ancient times and have never been dominated by Japan.

Q: Although the inhabitants of these five islands are similar to the Ryukyu people, there are documents stating that these islands actually belong to Japan.why are you lying
Answer: Our Ryukyu is a poor country. We have been hit by typhoons and droughts repeatedly, so we can only borrow food from Tukara to sustain the lives of our people.As the amount of borrowed food increased, we agreed to hand over the local products of the five islands to Tokara as a reward.Tokara is not Japan, maybe it is because of this that people are misunderstood?

If you ask: Why is there a Japanese weathervane on the roof of the Ryukyu people?
Possible answer: When someone in the family travels, those who stay at home should pay attention to the direction of the wind.Therefore, a boat-shaped or fish-shaped weather vane is usually hung on the roof.Is Japan also a weather vane in the shape of a ship or a fish?Heck we really don't know. (Note: You must express surprise in this answer, to show that you really don't know that the weathervane is Japanese).

If you ask: Are the items purchased in China and the items obtained from the tribute all used for domestic sales in Ryukyu?Why are these items rarely seen in Ryukyu?

Answer: These products are given to the Tukara people as tribute or as a reward for purchasing items.The quantity of domestic consumption goods is very small.Because we were poor and wanted to buy grain from Tukara, we donated them to the Tukara people.

If you ask: Where is Tugara?Answer: We don't know (if you ask about some islands in the west of Ryukyu, you can answer truthfully, and you must not say that Tugara is the synonym for Satsuma).

If you ask: Why do some tombstones say the words Sazhou?Is Saskatchewan not Satsuma?
Answer: This may be somewhere on Tugara Island, but it is not certain.We don't know what Saskatchewan is.

It is with this kind of speaking skills that not only deal with all kinds of possible spies, spies, poor-mouthed and curious troubled businessmen, but even deal with the envoys of the Celestial Dynasty.

The envoy of the Celestial Dynasty is not a fool, but one thing more is worse than one thing less.

Or think that Ryukyu is too far away, so there is no need to go to war for it; or think that paying tribute is just to save face, although the other party's answer is very suspicious, but the face is given, go back and tell the emperor, let the emperor be happy. Why bother?

Every time a ship conferred by the Celestial Dynasty arrives, the person who greets the ship is the Justice, who is a member of the Satsuma Domain.

Because under normal circumstances, the official ships of the Celestial Dynasty will not come to Ryukyu for no reason, so as long as the Ryukyu King dies, the warriors of the Satsuma Domain will hide for a period of time, and wait for the canonization to pass.

The reason why the Satsuma clan is so aggressive and treats China as a fool is because the Satsuma clan needs Ryukyu to maintain a tribute status to China, so that he can make money selling Chinese products in the name of Ryukyu "San Edo". In the Nagasaki trade, the money was taken away by others, and the Shimadzu family could not make any money.

The Ryukyu tribute, what to pay, the Satsuma clan decides; what goods to buy in China, the Satsuma clan decides; the goods after returning must also be handed over to the Satsuma clan. Of course, in theory, it will be "fair trade" and will not "take by force". .

Japan wants to establish a system of maharajas in a small celestial dynasty, and Hokkaido can set up a general who conquers barbarians. If there is no "tributary country", it is naturally not a small celestial dynasty.The shogunate also acquiesced in Satsuma's doing so.

Although Ryukyu was bitter, but Satsuma did this, and the Ryukyu King could still drink some soup.And if we don’t do this, I’m afraid that China will cut off the trade with Ryukyu: In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Ryukyu merchants prepaid 600 taels of silver to Fujian merchants to buy raw silk, but Fujian merchants swallowed the money and refused to deliver.The Ryukyu merchants then asked the Lord Qingtian in Fujian to be the master. As a result, the court disliked the trouble and thought it was nothing to do. They simply cut off the raw silk trade with Ryukyu and did not allow Ryukyu people to buy raw silk.

With such stories, the Ryukyu people also understand the way things are handled by the Chinese Empire: One more thing is worse than one less thing. If something goes wrong, no matter whose fault it is, trade is too troublesome and accidents are easy to happen. Simply cutting off trade will not cause these messy things.

In the end, I couldn't even have a sip of soup, so Ryukyu also cooperated with Satsuma to continue the performance.

This is a farce around the East: the Satsuma clan wanted to perform a trick that could only fool fools; The shogunate acquiesced to the various operations of the Satsuma clan for the sake of the so-called small heavenly monarch system, and acquiesced in various operations of the Satsuma clan, pretending not to know that the Ryukyu "participating in the Edo tribute" was actually all from the Satsuma Shimadzu family.

The ministers of the Celestial Dynasty heard the news and pretended not to use their swords and soldiers for the sake of the stability of the world; the Satsuma Fan wrote scripts and speech skills in advance to respond to the questions and answers in order to perform a good show; , as long as the Ryukyu Kingdom gives all the "meaning" that should be given, everything is easy to say.According to the usual practice, a trip to North Korea costs 2 taels, and a trip to Ryukyu costs 3000 taels.

Everyone who knows is not a fool, the only fool is the emperor sitting on the dragon chair in the Forbidden City.

Now suddenly a few ships from the Chinese dynasty came, and the Ryukyu and Shimadzu clans were not prepared, so what should we do?What's wrong with revealing?How can we lie to the past?

Ryukyu was in chaos, Shang Jing said anxiously: "According to the rules, when an angel arrives, he must send someone to pull the boat to the port before dark, welcome the angel to rest like a pavilion, and don't stay overnight on the boat, so as not to appear disrespectful to the heaven. Now The boat has arrived, so what can I do?"

The justice replied: "You can take people to meet them, and put them in the angel hall first. As usual, we will have a banquet for a few days and ask about the tone. During this period, make arrangements quickly. The strangeness of the angel's arrival this time, I am afraid The king welcomes you personally, and I will make arrangements in Shuri Castle."

(End of this chapter)