Xinshun 1730

Chapter 335 The Exploitable Contradiction
Even if it hurts, the money has to be invested.It's a guarantee.

If the South Seas go down, Malacca and the Sunda Strait are in hand, Ryukyu is really not even as good as a tasteless one.

The investment of tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy a military port that may not be used in a lifetime is really speechless.

Spending money, but hoping that it will not be used in the future, is probably like the emperor renovating the former Dagukou Fort in Tianjin: spending a lot of money, hoping that all the money will be wasted.But whoever writes a letter saying that repairing the Tianjin Fort is a waste of people and money, the emperor will definitely scold him.Pretty much the same.

Ryukyu is meaningless in a world where there are only China and Japan, and China is attacking and Japan is defending, North Korea is in hand, and Tsushima and Hokkaido can be separated.But if there are external forces, it will become Achilles' heel. It may not be used in a lifetime, but it has to be equipped with strong greaves.

This stems from Liu Yu's lack of self-confidence.

He was still a little afraid of the Dutch. After all, he had a naval stock of 20 tons and 200 years of experience in naval warfare. Even if the capital ship could not come to Asia, Weihai had rich naval theory but no actual combat experience.

He is also not sure whether Weihai's navy is capable of betting on this national fortune, whether it is capable of defeating the Netherlands, which forced Britain to fight the Anglo-Dutch War for 200 years.

If he missed the War of the Austrian Succession, he would have to wait a long time until the Seven Years' War started, and he couldn't wait any longer.

But there is one thing to be comforted with.

If you win, break through Nanyang to eat meat, fatten the sprouts of capitalism, close the door when necessary, and keep the navy neutral to the outside world.

If he loses, the emperor will have to sell everything to build the navy, because if he loses, it means that Liu Yu's dire prophecy is likely to come true, and the shackles of the royal family's rule will be even heavier, but it can leave a solid foundation for the future.

Of course, if Nanyang lost the bet, Liu Yu would be Dashun's most loyal minister; if he won, that's another story.

The naval officers who followed him probably knew that they would fight in Nanyang in the future, and they were looking forward to fighting in Nanyang in their hearts. They didn't want to stay in Weihai for the rest of their lives, and they would never be able to rise up if they didn't fight.

Hearing that Liu Yu insisted on spending money even though he knew it was a piece of shit, he couldn't help but secretly rejoice, Xindao Ying Suobi was clearly advocating going south.

Those who were left here to inspect and supervise the construction of the fort port in the future knew it well, not only to carry out the order, but also felt that the scenery of this place was not bad.

Their luck is much better than those stationed north of the Whale Sea in the bitter cold place.

Liu Yu instructed them to drink boiled water and the like, which he had said countless times before leaving Zhongcheng Port.

A few days later, when the typhoon hit, Chen Qinghai's squadron, which was patrolling outside, also returned to Ryukyu. After avoiding the typhoon, Liu Yu was ready to go to Japan.

He wasn't sure when the next typhoon would come, but thinking about the crater theory metaphysically, he felt that a typhoon just came and took the Ryukyu-Japan route, and the next time it wouldn't just go the Ryukyu-Japan route.

The King of the Ryukyu has also dealt with the domestic issues. The domestic military affairs are temporarily taken by the king's younger brother Shangche, and the Ryukyu king Shangjing followed Zhao Baiquan to the Celestial Dynasty.

Before leaving, Liu Yu told Zhao Baiquan privately.

"Lord Zhao, it's a big event for the king of Zhongshan to go to the Celestial Dynasty. According to the rules of canonization in the past, the Ryukyu envoys go to the capital first to ask for the canonization, and then the angels come again. This time, it's the same reason, so it's easy to prepare. Can you Arrange him to live in Songjiang temporarily, firstly let him see the prosperity of the Celestial Dynasty, so as to reassure him; secondly, let the court prepare first."

"Don't just take him back to the capital, the court is not prepared, and the Minister of the Li government will scold his mother."

Zhao Baiquan didn't know the inside story of some things. For example, the emperor was going to talk about Ryukyu and show it to the Westerners' world group, in order to reach a common understanding of the tributary country as the territory.

Ryukyu itself is a trivial matter, but it can be used as a justifiable righteousness to conquer the sun. Liu Yu has to cooperate with the emperor in acting.

Although Zhao Baiquan didn't know the inside story, he knew that Liu Yu was the envoy this time, so it's better to listen to him for some things.

And as Liu Yu said, the Li government has no experience.

There was no king of a vassal state who came to the capital in person before, and this time he bound himself to plead guilty.

Normally, envoys from the feudal vassals came to report to the emperor in the early court, and the emperor received them after the court meeting. This time it was very different. How to receive them was a problem.

Reception with the gift of the county king?It seems inappropriate for the King of Ryukyu to confess to a serious crime, but also to plead guilty. It is possible that the only one who convicts the vassal is the emperor. The emperor has not yet spoken, and the rank of the county king is still...

These troublesome things have to be taken care of by the Li government, and Zhao Baiquan has a headache thinking about it.

It's not bad to think about staying in Songjiang to buffer for a while.

At that time, if you go all the way to the capital along the canal, you don't have to worry about accidents on sea ships. As long as you get to Songjiang, you will be safe.

Following Liu Yu's instructions, two warships were dispatched to Zhao Baiquan to escort them back home together.

Along with the two battleships, there are four trainee captains who have been waiting for a long time in terms of seniority. After returning, they will take over the two newly launched cruisers. They must hurry up and train to complete the running-in before September.

After seeing off one by one, Liu Yu's fleet also set sail from Ryukyu and headed for Japan along the Kuroshio Current.

Liu Yu's first target is the Tosa Domain, in Shikoku Island.Based on Liu Yu's knowledge and Shi Shiyong's information, it can be seen that this season is the season when various feudal lords go to Edo to pay their respects.

There has been no war on Shikoku Island for nearly 150 years. The lord of the Tosa Domain is estimated to be in Edo at this time, which is a good place to frighten the lords of the Japanese vassals.

Shi Shiyong, who went to Japan again, was talking about the situation in Japan to the naval staff. At this time, he was talking about the visit and confession of the Japanese daimyo.

"Thanks to Ying Suobo's ability, the law of sweet potato relief was given to the Japanese country, and the currency system was reformed. Otherwise, 12 years ago in Taixing, the shogun of the Japanese had stopped attending the throne. The vassals did not need to go to Edo again. .Now the Japanese shogunate has survived, the shogunate has money, and the famine in various places has also been alleviated.

"The main wife of the lord of the Tosa domain needs to live in Edo, and the lord also needs to go to Edo once a year. Depart in April, live in Edo for a period of time, and then return to Kochi Castle."

"Participating in the imperial court is just a strategy for the shogunate to exhaust the famous name. In a year, [-]% of the time is on the road, [-]% of the time is in Edo, and the remaining [-]% of the time can be returned to live in the vassal. Every time you come and go, you have to pay for it. , A lot of the annual income is spent on attending the pilgrimage.”

Shi Shiyong used his bow and horse skills to work as a spy for several years in the shogunate that had just restored the Eagle Hunting Order, and knew a lot about Japan.

Liu Yu also knew that the Tosa clan later produced a Sakamoto Ryoma, a master of the Restoration, with superb swordsmanship, but after getting the revolver for the first time, he never left the revolver, and did not play swordsmanship anymore.

He once said: "The Analects of Confucius" said: "The son said on the river: the dead are like a husband, and they will not give up day and night."The world is constantly changing day and night. Therefore, following the trend of the times is the way of a gentleman. It is not right to focus on doing it when you have a firm mind, and you will be left behind by the times.

It can be seen that Confucius' words can be interpreted in ten thousand ways, and the key depends on the needs.

Other than that, he didn't know much about the Tosa domain.

Shi Shiyong knew a lot, because when he taught the shogunate samurai riding and archery in Edo, many things happened to the Tosa domain.

A few years ago, a fire broke out and Kochi City was burned down.

As soon as the burning was over, Liu Yu took the opportunity to smuggle into the Xiangbao famine. The Tosa clan was severely affected, and many people died of starvation. They also borrowed tens of thousands of taels of silver from the shogunate to revive the industry.

But judging from the time, it is estimated that Kochi City has not yet been rebuilt at this time, and tens of thousands of taels of silver is like revitalizing the industry, which is probably useless.In fact, it is indeed useless. In history, the Tosa clan tried to take the paper industry as an official operation, which led to a large-scale uprising. In the end, they had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​​​an official paper industry.

According to the three pieces of news that Shi Shiyong learned about "fire, famine, and borrowing money", Liu Yu judged that the Tosa clan is now a bully.

After the end of the Warring States period, the shogunate demanded one country and one city, especially foreign daimyos like the Tosa clan, which cannot be trusted. The Tosa clan should be just such a Kochi city.

It has only been a few years since it was burned, and it caught up with a major disaster before, so it is estimated that it has not been repaired now.It is not necessary to really attack, it is enough to frighten and frighten.

With a stone height of 20 shi, there are not many troops.

In addition, the Tosa Clan's Changzong Gabu clan stood on the side of the Western Army in the Sekigahara Battle, and the current lord of the Tosa Clan, the Yamauchi Clan, was enfeoffed later. Sergeant and corporal, the newcomer is on the top, and the old one is reduced to the corporal, and there are many internal conflicts.

This kind of place is suitable for killing chickens and monkeys and causing trouble.

Shi Shiyong wanted to admire Liu Yu's courage, especially after Liu Yu really dared to go to Edo, he deeply felt that Liu Yu's courage was extraordinary.This time Liu Yu proposed to visit the Tosa clan. Shi Shiyong also knew that Liu Yu solved the matter of the Satsuma warriors in Ryukyu like chopping melons and vegetables, so he was full of confidence and didn't think there was any danger.

After he finished explaining this to the middle and senior officers in the navy present, Liu Yu said with a smile on his face: "I think you have already guessed that everything is ready for the war against Japan and only Dongfeng owes it. Now that the Ryukyu affairs are over, even Dongfeng has it." .”

"Master Shi also talked a lot just now, but the country of Wa is different from this dynasty after all. You can roughly understand it as the relationship between the emperor of Zhou and the princes. Of course, in terms of political correctness, how can the country of Wa be compared to the emperor of Zhou? I said this just for convenience understand."

"Wu Wang won the world, and he entrusted Taigong Wang to Qi, and Zhou Gong's Lu was around Qi. What did he do? Zhou Gongji's surname, Taigong Wang Lu's family. There are differences between internal and external relatives, and there is also the intention of Lu State to monitor Qi State. Put it in Wa State, generally speaking. It can be understood in this way."

"Song State, descended from the Yin and Shang Dynasties, is a foreign name; Qi State, a genealogical name; Lu State, a pro-vassal name."

"This Tosa is a foreign daimyo."

"There is a saying in the ancients that the enmity of nine generations can only be avenged. It is said that the emperor of Zhou cooked and killed Duke Ai of Qi. Of course, if it was Duke Huan of Qi, even if the emperor of Zhou had ten guts, he would not dare to cook and kill Duke Ai of Qi. Huan Gong. At this time, the authority of the Japanese shogunate is roughly equivalent to when the emperor killed Duke Ai of Qi."

"As for the military system, the peasants and soldiers of the Japanese kingdom were separated, and each big name also had its own soldiers. It can be roughly understood that the emperor has six divisions, and the princes also have three armies."

"Understanding this, you should know that if the purpose of this battle is not to split the Wa Kingdom, what should we do? If we can make good use of the internal contradictions of the Wa Kingdom, it is better than tens of thousands of soldiers."

(End of this chapter)