Jingming

Chapter 466 Seeking Death

The arrogant Meng Yuan was defeated twice in Japan.

Deep down in Shimazu Takahisa's heart, he did not believe that the Ming Dynasty could really conquer Japan, but Satsuma might have to go through a tough battle.

In such a situation, how to turn crisis into opportunity?

One day later, many people came out of Satsuma.

Someone went to Ryukyu to confirm some news from there.

Someone went to the territories of the Ouchi clan, Nizi clan and Mouri clan in the north to confirm the situation there.

Others went to where the emperor and shogunate were.

If he really wants to do something, perhaps through the appointment of the declining emperor and shogun, he will obtain an apparently important position, and he can at least take the opportunity to nominally command Kyushu to resist the foreign armies.

Over in Ryukyu, King Naoqing was sitting in the main hall of the palace in Shuri Castle.

At this moment, there was silence in the hall.

Although the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom is smaller in scale and slightly different in architectural style, it is modeled after the Forbidden City. The difference is that their main hall faces west.

The reason for this is not only that there are mountains in the north and south of Shuri Castle and ventilation from east to west, but also because of "big things".

This kind of thing is big, reflected in this morning: Shang Qing and his ministers knelt at Huanhui Gate, the main gate of Shuri City, to bid farewell to the Ming Dynasty envoy who set off to return to the Ming Dynasty. Also traveling with him were his legitimate son Shang Yuan and important minister Mao Longyin.

Now back in the palace, the forty-five-year-old Shang Qing felt heavy in his heart.

"I'm afraid that the diplomatic envoys from China who have seen the Taiyuan man alone will also know about it. In the past month or two, there have been many people fleeing across the ocean from there. Ryukyu is the support of all nations, and it all depends on it. Maritime trade. Now the country has set up a border zone to suppress Taiyuan, and there is news that it will conquer Japan. The war is going on at both ends of the Ryukyu Islands, and the trade routes are cut off. I don’t know the future..."

Ming Dynasty wants to accept Taiwan Yuan as a real land, and Ryukyu certainly has nothing to say.

The Ming Dynasty wanted to conquer Japan, and Ryukyu was not qualified to comment.

But the origin of the term Manguojinryang comes from the location of Ryukyu.

In the past, due to the many restrictions imposed by the shipping department of Ming Dynasty, Ryukyu was actually a transit point for maritime trade in the Oriental region. Many of the smugglers of the Ming Dynasty and maritime merchants from countless small countries such as Japan, Korea, Luzon, Siam, Aceh, Java, and Manchuria would gather in Ryukyu.

Now that the Ming Dynasty is promoting maritime trade and border trade, although Ryukyu's status has declined a bit, as long as Japan, the only country currently excluded from the Ming Dynasty's border trade system, still has demand, Ryukyu's existence value is still not small.

The Wan Guo Jin Liang Bell, cast eighty-three years ago, is still hanging at the entrance to the main hall of the palace.

But what about behind? What is the purpose of Ming Dynasty?

As the leader of a small country, Shang Qing is self-aware.

Over the years, his respect for the Ming Dynasty has been the most sincere among the vassals of the Ming Dynasty.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, Ryukyu accepted the thirty-six surnames of the Fujian people given by Taizu and the people of the Ming Dynasty who migrated to Ryukyu with thirty-six surnames. Over the years, Akito even became Prime Minister of Ryukyu.

Every year, the Ming Dynasty would issue the calendar for the following year from Fujian to Ryukyu.

It was decided last year that the AD calendar would start to change this year, and the measurement standard vessels given by the Emperor of Heaven were also enshrined in the palace by Shang Qing. Ryukyu uses Chinese and the Ming Dynasty calendar and chronology. Today, the Ming Dynasty’s Tongbao and silver coins are in circulation.

Now, the Ming Emperor asked various countries to send envoys to conclude a convention. This matter had worried Shang Qing and his ministers for several months.

They have been worried since the mission returned at the end of last year.

The diplomatic envoy visited the vassal country to inspect the political conduct and people's livelihood, but Shangqing did not dare to stop him.

This year, important officials were to be dispatched, so he sent his legitimate son and heir and the head of the officials.

Now Shang Qing asked, and another among the ministers whose real name was He Weimei said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, Master Mao will definitely be able to handle it properly."

"I wonder if Yun met the Taiyuan man. Did the angels of the Kingdom of Heaven know that Gu had been deceived? He pretended to be a retainer of the Chiwei Village Society, and I only met him. Little did he know that Chiwei Island had been captured by the Taiyuan thieves. They When I came to Gu and cried for help, I realized..."

"I found out last night that Master Mao would also explain it to the angel on the way."

The so-called village community is a unique product of an archipelago country like Ryukyu. There is no way, the islands are naturally separated by the ocean. The islands have their own local powerful, the smaller islands are actually local autonomous, and the larger islands are also divided into clans.

The guarantee for the unification of the Ryukyus is that civilians are prohibited from hiding weapons, and the military is controlled by the central government, forming a kind of military system. Near Shuri Castle, many pro-military guards were set up, each belonging to the three Kuri.

These three guards of Curry only took turns guarding the area near Shuri Castle.

On other islands, there is generally no regular army, only some brave villagers. Even such brave villagers only allowed some local chiefs to form strongholds to protect themselves. This is the origin of the term Zhaishe.

So Shang Qing seems to have the martial arts skills of "Northern Expedition", but in fact it is nothing.

At this time, the entire Ryukyu army only had more than 500 bows, more than 300 iron spears, more than 300 armors and some knives and spears.

What can this kind of force do except lie down in front of Ming Dynasty?

Outside Naha Port, the fourteen-year-old Prince Nao happily boarded the Ming Dynasty Fengzhou escorted by the Ming Dynasty Dongyang Navy. Mao Longyin, an important minister with the official name of Fa Si and commanding one of the Kuli, looked back solemnly at the port city. .

Based on the Zhanlang-class Ming warships he saw now, if there were three or five such ships, this archipelago country would be defenseless.

At the pier, the Jiumi clan was saying goodbye to the Ming Dynasty to declare diplomatic relations.

The so-called Kumi Shizu are the thirty-six surnames of the Fujian people who migrated to Ryukyu more than a hundred years ago. Most of these people are scholars, craftsmen or other people with special skills. In Ryukyu, they live together in a place called Kume, and are respected by everyone from the royal family to the common people.

What they believe in is Buddhism and Taoism, while most Ryukyu natives believe in Shinto, including the Dragon Palace, the Goddess of the Sisters, the Mt. Yue, and the ancestral spirits.

Today at the pier, eminent monks, Taoists, and Ryukyu women came to pray for the voyage.

Nazuki is the highest-ranking person in the Ryukyu Shinto belief system and the leader of the goddesses. In the past, Zhu Nu was very powerful. Since the reform of the priestly administration was carried out seventy or eighty years ago, and the king's daughter was appointed as the Zhunu, the religious status of the Zhunu began to be lower than that of the king, and the role of the Zhunu was often held by the princess.

Today's Zhu Nu is Shang Qing's eldest daughter. Behind her, there is her younger sister who is traveling with her. The second daughter of Shang Qing, who is only eleven years old, is also preparing to become Zhu's daughter.

After the sailing ceremony, an invitation came from the palace, and all the thirty-six surnames of Kume were invited to the palace for a banquet.

Shang Qing sat on the throne, facing west.

Before the dinner to show favor to the thirty-sixth name of Najiumi and inquire about their position, he was still discussing possible developments and countermeasures with the ministers.

Until dusk, the setting sun shone into the hall, and Shang Qing was in a trance for a while.

Too passive and clueless.

Ryukyu's future was extremely uncertain. He looked at the palace that was dyed orange by the sunset, not knowing where to go.

A few days later, when Shang Yuan and Mao Longyin watched in stunned silence as the Ming escort warships wiped out several small boats escaping eastward from Taiwan Island, the retainers sent by Shimazu Takahisa had just arrived in Ryukyu.

When we get closer to Taiwan Island, a lot of information is not difficult to verify.

As the country with the closest ties to Ryukyu among the Japanese countries, Satsuma's status as a guardian retainer is also very useful here.

This time, he stayed in Ryukyu for nearly ten days, and then set off back to Satsuma.

By the time he returned to Shimazu Takahisa, it was already early August.

More information was gathered to Shimazu Takahisa, and he and his retainers looked grim again.

"Zong Qingkang has indeed become the dog of the Ming Dynasty! He sent his son to ask for an audience with the emperor and generals, and conveyed the cross-examination of the Ming Emperor. The reason for the choice was that the envoys of the Ouchi clan and the Hosokawa clan fought in the Ming Dynasty more than ten years ago , killing Akito!”

"Lord Takajiu, it seems that the Ming Dynasty is really going to attack our Japanese countries! That Ryukyu Shang Qing has been scared out of his wits. He is neither willing to help our ship supply in Ryukyu, nor is he willing to help Taiwan Yuan with us. people!"

Shimazu Takahisa nodded: "In the more than a month since you went to Ryukyu, the news has spread. General Ashikaga Yoshiharu just lost the war with the leader of Hosokawa Harumoto and fled to the Omi-Sakamoto area. . After learning about the Ming Emperor's questioning, he instead made a big announcement, saying that he would welcome the Ming Emperor to capture the Hosokawa clan and the Ouchi clan, the ministers of the troubled country. This attitude has caused various countries to move. Now, the Hosokawa clan He accuses the shogunate of being traitorous and is planning an siege of the shogunate! And the shogunate is appointing officials on a large scale..."

"...There have been so many changes in more than a month! Mr. Takahisa, what about our Satsuma?" Shimazu Takahisa gritted his teeth: "Everyone knows that if the Ming Dynasty comes, it will definitely not just bring back the so-called guilty chiefs. ! Ashikaga Yoshiharu was bewitched by his retainers, and he was afraid that he had secretly negotiated with Muneharuyasu! Kyushu and the four countries were all places he could abandon. But the Ouchi clan and the Hosokawa clan had always been at odds, and they were afraid that they would each set up their own banners. We cannot work together. Weaken the heroes first, then he has a chance to restore the prestige of the shogunate! Even greater chaos is coming!"

Powerful foreign enemies are watching, and ambitious heroes are preparing to take advantage of this drastic change. Some people do not hesitate to cooperate with foreign enemies, while others want to gain greater prestige and strength in the process of resisting foreign enemies.

"Then what shall we do?"

Facing the worried retainers, Shimazu Takahisa's eyes flashed coldly: "If the Ming Dynasty wants to attack, it can only come from Tsushima Island or Ryukyu! Now the Hosokawa clan is wooing me, and the shogunate has also sent people over. But in In the eyes of the shogunate, I am afraid that Mune Haruyasu is much more important than our Satsuma. He mainly wants to attack Hosokawa, how can he not go through Kyushu and encircle him on several sides? On the contrary, the Hosokawa clan has always been at odds with the Ouchi clan."

"My lord means..."

"What the Taiwanese guy said is at least one thing right! If the Ming army comes, Satsuma will be at the forefront. Whether it's for the danger that's about to come or for the future, Satsuma cannot avoid it! But first, we We must buy time for ourselves and not be the first direction to be attacked by the Ming army!"

"Please give me your orders, sir!"

Shimazu Takahisa's eyes became firm: "Since you said Ryukyu is so weak now, then... destroy Ryukyu first! No matter what, we cannot let the Ming army easily reach Kyushu without any worries! Just come from Tsushima Island, and on the way The Nizi clan and the Ouchi clan will not sit back and watch! Let them take the lead! Now the Ming Dynasty has the intention to attack Japan, and many people are no longer afraid of provoking the Ming Dynasty. I heard that there are already ronin going to sea, hoping to prevent the Ming Dynasty from attacking Tranquility, it’s difficult to care about the beginning and the end!”

The Satsuma warriors, who had just largely calmed down the civil strife, began to prepare for a sneak attack on Ryukyu.

In the current big storm, some people who are accustomed to hoarding wealth from pirates are also preparing to do things more openly.

If something big happens, he will still be known as a hero among the heroes, and maybe he will emerge in troubled times?

Ryukyu, whose agriculture and fisheries are very average, has actually accumulated a lot of wealth relying on entrepot trade over the years.

Although its status has declined with the Ming Dynasty's expansion of maritime trade, and historically it has truly fallen into decline and its finances have become unsustainable after the Longqing Switch, Ryukyu is now beginning to face a crisis in advance and be invaded by Satsuma in advance.

This time it was for something else.

After this time, Ryukyu will not become the Okinawa of Japan in the future.

Shang Yuan and Mao Longyin, who had already arrived in Ningbo, didn't know all this.

They are lamenting the prosperity of Ningbo Shuangyu Port.

On the island of Shuangyu Port, three young people have just arrived.

Seeing Feng Zhou entering the harbor, Zhu Zaiyi asked in surprise: "Is that the envoy from Ryukyu?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at the costumes of those people and nodded: "At the Wanshou Ceremony last year, the Ryukyu envoys dressed exactly like that."

Qi Jiguang reminded: "Big brother and second brother, I heard that there is a mixed bag of fish and dragons on Shuangyu Island, so it is better to be careful. The three of us have been targeted four times along the way!"

Zhang Juzheng smiled: "Yuan Jing's martial arts are so strong, isn't there a near miss?"

Qi Jiguang was helpless: "These twin islands are no better than those on the mainland. I heard that there are criminals here who bought fire guns from Nanyang and hid them privately!"

"...That's right. The three of us look young and have our own magnanimity. We really look like ignorant and ignorant rich kids who are traveling abroad. First, we will find a hotel to settle down and see how prosperous maritime trade is now. Let's go to Guangdong. If it weren't for the naval division that is suppressing bandits in Taiyuan and many bandits are scurrying nearby, it would be best to go to Guangdong by sea."

Qi Jiguang was convinced: "We shouldn't come to these twin islands! No matter how skilled I am, what can I do if the ship encounters a storm?"

Zhang Juzheng disagreed: "My mentor, he must be hoping that Brother Ming will be more courageous. Besides, I was originally planning to take the Maritime Bureau's big ship, and I asked Brother Yuan Jing to make arrangements in advance. How can there be any big problem?"

Zhu Zaiyi nodded: "No problem, Zhang Feng is right, how can I not see the sea frontier? You know, my father often mentioned the importance of sea defense and sea trade!"

They began to "experience" the Ming Dynasty maritime trade on Shuangyu Island. In the southeast of the ocean, there were merchant ships heading to Ryukyu trade, as well as the escort ships of the Maritime Great Wall Company they hired.

On the vast sea, there are also pirates sent by the Hosokawa clan, the Ouchi clan and some other thoughtful people who have been named as the "sinful chiefs". They want to make sneak attacks on North Korea, Tsushima, Ryukyu and even the Ming Dynasty, and plunder on the sea. wealth.

In the current war, more wealth means more strength and more reputation.

North Korea also sent ministers with sufficient qualifications: Yuan Lao Yin, who is currently in a relatively weak position in the dispute between Yin and Xiao Yin, and even between the brothers Xiao Yin.

Brother Xiao Yin originally advocated sending the crown prince, but failed to facilitate this matter due to Yin Ren's full opposition.

If something goes wrong with the crown prince on the way, the crown prince of North Korea won't have to fight.

In the end, Haian Junli was sent out.

As soon as the two arrived at Jiulian City, news came from behind: Japanese chaos reappeared in Nipu Port, and Yin Yuanheng asked to send troops to quell the chaos.

Elder Yin not only hopes that his younger brother can take the opportunity to win over some generals, but also worries that his younger brother will become stronger.

During this trip to the country, I have been away from North Korea for several months. I wonder if the situation will be more passive after returning.

He looked at Li Yi, who was unlikely to be related to the throne and had only assisted in managing the royal affairs bureau set up by Li Yi in these years, with a smile on his face: "The emperor of the Shang Kingdom has admired His Highness a lot in the early years. This time he came to the capital of the Shang Kingdom. , I also ask for your kind words, your highness. Previously, the king was deceived by treacherous ministers, and he actually made an impolite move to ask for troops to clear the king's side. Now I personally serve as an envoy. While I am defending myself, if there are your highness's kind words as evidence, I will wait for my return to the country. , His Highness will naturally be as stable as Mount Tai in the Wangye Bureau."

Li was actually deeply touched.

My father was forced to ask Daming for help, which shows how dangerous the situation is.

Although he is in the Wangye Bureau, the border trade with the Ming Dynasty was first controlled by Jin An. After the death of Jin An and his family, he is now controlled by Xiao Yin brothers.

Li is nominally supervising Wangye Bureau, but in fact he can only be a hand-off shopkeeper. He just signs and seals the accounts submitted every year. How can he really manage things?

Is Mr. Yin currently promising him benefits after returning?

In fact, he has no effect at all...

As for speaking kindly of Brother Yin's "loyalty" in front of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty... Li remembered the Emperor of Ming Dynasty whom he had not seen for a long time, and just nodded to Elder Yin first.

The last Jin Qi who accompanied him as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty has probably been reincarnated now.

There will be no Longevity Ceremony in Beijing this year. The envoys from various countries will be summoned to make a convention in October.

Now, the final plan for the transfer of generals has been discussed at the military affairs meeting.

Outside Ryukyu Naha Port, many small boats were approaching in the night, and the boats were full of people holding samurai swords and looking greedy.

To the east of Shuangyu Port, there are also Japanese pirates taking advantage of the gaps in the night when the Ming Dynasty coastal defense warships patrol, waiting for a good opportunity.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houcong couldn't help but smile when he saw the report sent back by Yan Shifan: "General who respects the emperor and repels the barbarians? General who guards the country?"

"Your Majesty, Marquis Yangwu comes to plead guilty again. He failed to encircle Taiwan, causing the remaining bandits to escape and leaking information. This matter..."

Zhu Houcong looked at Lu Bing: "He asked for forgiveness and you still want to ask? Did he ask me to intercede?"

Lu Bing was a little embarrassed.

"It's not that you don't know. I don't care and I won't punish you. You will do what's best for you." Zhu Houxuan looked at Yan Shifan's report again and said, "Taiwan Island is very big after all, and there are only marines on it. To suppress bandits and train troops, should we really send warships to blockade Baixun Island? Leaking some people, that's normal. It's just that he is greedy for success and rushes forward. His generals should learn a lesson this time. "

After reading it, Zhu Houcong put down the secret memorial.

"My army hasn't gone yet, but some people in Japan have already begun to take advantage of me. Ashikaga Yoshiharu wants to take advantage of me, and Ouchi Yoshitaka and Hosokawa Harumoto also want to take advantage of me. Now it's good, there are new changes in Japan, and the three A great general?"

Zhu Houcong lamented the changes he had brought to Japan quite interestingly.

In Japan, can the title shogun be used casually? That was exclusive to the shogunate.

now...

Zhu Houcong became happy: "It seems that Japan has found a way to die."

(End of this chapter)