The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 270 Ryukyu, Liuqiu.

In history, after the Southern Song Dynasty entered the middle and late stages, the country’s economy has not been able to recover well due to continuous wars with Jin and Mongolia. In the past, especially the law and order along the coast became very unbearable due to the rampant pirates. Although the imperial court strictly ordered the coastal navy to fight hard, due to the unstable situation in the late Southern Song Dynasty, the coastal pirates were still not completely wiped out. In addition to robbing passing ships, most of them are also engaged in smuggling, and what's more, they will go ashore to harass and plunder the people.

There are many records about pirates in Lizong Yubi in Xianwen Pavilion. Although I haven't read them carefully, I still know some of them in general.

"Li Beiyang, let me ask you, what is the situation with the pirates along the coast today? Are they still rampant?"

Li Beiyang got up and said: "Your Majesty, most of the pirates are now concentrated on Liangzhe Road and the coast of Fujian Province. After many attacks by our navy, most of the pirates have turned to smuggling. The smuggled items are mainly Salt, copper coins, tea, and some contraband military supplies are embargoed by my dynasty. The focus of my navy along the coast is to combat the smuggling of military contraband. The raw materials of the warships went northward from the coast, which made the development of the Mongolian navy slow, and the smuggling of other items could not be completely eliminated, but compared to the Jiading period, it has been much better."

"Salt, metal, and military supplies have always been controlled or monopolized by the imperial court. The smuggling of these items should be severely cracked down, but is this tea also a prohibited item?"

Lu Xiufu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, tea has always been listed as contraband by my court,"

"Exchanging tea for gold and silver, I think it's a good deal. Teachers and ministers, please inform the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Households to cancel tea from the contraband items. The imperial court will no longer monopolize it. You only need to approve the customs duties, so that you can Increasing our government’s taxation can also increase the income of tea farmers, so why not do it,”

"Yes, Your Majesty," Jia Sidao cupped his hands.

"Your Majesty," Li Beiyang continued to introduce, "Among the current pirates, except for Zhang Xuan who is known as the 'One Piece', most of the rest of the pirates adopt the method of smuggling, and they no longer engage in robbery of passing merchant ships. This is why I will ask His Majesty whether you can recruit pirates to expand the navy, "

When I heard the name "One Piece", I was surprised for a while, tapped my fingers on the table inadvertently and said: "One Piece Zhang Xuan,"

"One Piece" is a well-known comic in later generations, and it has a huge market among elementary and middle school students. Unexpectedly, Zhang Xuan's nickname is also called One Piece.

"Exactly, Your Majesty, Zhang Xuan is a native of Daxishan Island on Guangnan East Road (now Guangdong). He joined our navy when he was young. He is full of sexuality, and because of a quarrel with his boss, he draws his sword against him. After beheading his boss, he escapes into the sea and gradually becomes one of the most powerful pirates along the coast. The pirates have colluded and have become the leader of the largest pirate gang overseas in Fujian. Zhang Xuan is extremely cruel, not only robbing wealth, but also hurting people's lives. Merchant ships who often travel on waterways say, "It is better to encounter a tsunami than to encounter pirates." ,'"

"Daxi Shandao," I nodded, "the name is quite familiar, I remember seeing it somewhere before."

"Your Majesty, the residents of Daxishan Island on Guangnan East Road have always made a living by smuggling salt. Zhang Huaiyu, the leader of Shang Village, gathered thousands of islanders to kill all the people Xu Anguo sent, and then entered the sea as pirates. After three years, he was finally destroyed by the Fuzhou navy and the destroying front army of our dynasty. It is said that at that time Thousands of islanders were massacred. This matter once caused an uproar in the court. After Zhang Xuan became a pirate and publicly declared that he was Zhang Huaiyu, he committed all kinds of crimes. It is not at odds with our dynasty. Although our navy has conquered many times, because it is quite skilled in water warfare and extremely cunning, whenever our army conquers, we hide in Liuqiu (now Ryukyu). There are many islands around Liuqiu. , the land and sea terrain is complicated, and finally made me go to the navy every time without success, "

"The Ryukyu Islands," I pointed to the Ryukyu Islands on the map and said, "Li Aiqing, come and have a look, this is the area, right?"

Li Beiyang walked up to take a look and said, "Your Majesty, it's right here, just, just,,,,,,"

"Just what,"

Li Beiyang whispered: "Your Majesty, this place should be called Liuqiu, the flow of flowing water, not the glass of glass,"

The earliest record about Ryukyu was found in the Sui Dynasty. At that time, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty ordered Yuqiwei Zhu Kuan to go out to sea to search for exotic customs. On the way, he saw a large pearl-like island floating on the sea, like a dragon. In the dynasty, when the officials compiled the Sui Dynasty, in order to avoid the taboo of the emperor, they renamed the place Liuqiu. In the period of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty, they also named the place Liuqiu, which means glazed jade and pearl ball, and it has been passed down to this day. .

I also don't remember the origin of the name Ryukyu, so I smiled and said, "As soon as I opened my mouth, this Liuqiu will become the Ryukyu. It doesn't matter, it's just a place name."

Li Beiyang raised his voice and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, according to His Majesty's will, from then on, Liuqiu will be changed to Ryukyu,"

"How many people does Zhang Xuan have?"

"Your Majesty, there are about three to four thousand people and nearly a hundred armed ships,"

"The strength is not small. Since Zhang Xuan, the One Piece King, exists and is guilty of a heinous crime, then, Li Beiyang,"

"The minister is here,"

"I ordered you to destroy Zhang Xuan within three months, so as to sacrifice the banner of our Royal Navy of the Song Dynasty, can you do it?"

Li Beiyang thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, if you want to destroy Zhang Xuan, you must go deep into Ryukyu, this, this."

I knew what Li Beiyang meant, and said with a smile: "Then just take the Ryukyu together, and try the effectiveness of the Marine Corps by the way."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Li Beiyang replied confidently, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely do it."

"Well, I'll be waiting for your good news," I praised, "My dear friends, this is the end of today's meeting, and the second navy meeting will be held in seven days."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my leave,"

Back at Funing Palace, I hurried to bed without even eating, and wanted to take a good nap. Although I knew it was impossible, I still fantasized about being able to return to the dreamland of last night .

Of course, the result will not be as I wished. For me, dreams are something that can be met but never pursued.

After tossing and turning, I couldn't sleep after all.

I was in a daze on the bed for about half an hour before I opened my eyes.

"The official is awake, do you want something to eat?"

I shook my head and said, "Jiu'er, what time is it now?"

"It's half past the hour,"

I said "oh", and thought, it turned out that it was already 2 o'clock.

"Officials, Xiao Qi came to report, saying that the documents requested by the officials have been obtained, and Mr. Yuan, Mr. Lan and Mr. Shen are already waiting outside the palace gate."

"Well, I'm going to the imperial study now,"

"The officials haven't eaten yet,"

"Don't eat, let's eat together tonight,"

Walking into the study, Xiaoqi handed me a file and said: "Officials, this is the information about Jiang Yundi that I got from the Ministry of Officials."

"Well, Xiaoqi, you go to Mr. Xuan and the others to come in,"

"Yes, official,"

Jiang Yundi's file is very simple. He was born as a Jinshi, and Jiang Wanli's nephew. He has been working in the Ministry of Industry since he entered the Ministry of Industry ten years ago. Because of his serious work, he was highly valued by his superiors. He was promoted to the Ministry of Industry about a year and a half ago. Langzhong, with the title of fourth grade, in charge of the engineering and labor procedures of the city pool, and the annual evaluation by the official department is the top grade. He is low-key and modest, well-connected, and has no bad deeds. Reinforcement and other key projects.

"Jiang Wanli, Jiang Yundi," I read silently.

Regarding Jiang Wanli's character and performance in the Ministry of Commerce, there is nothing wrong with it. My intuition tells me that this matter should have nothing to do with Jiang Wanli. It would be much easier if it was just Jiang Yundi's personal behavior. After all, Jiang Wanli belongs to the court. It's my appointed Shangshu of the Ministry of Commerce again.

Just as I was thinking, Xiao Qi came to report: "Your Majesty, Mr. Yuan and others have arrived,"

"Well, let them in,"

"Minister Yuan Ji, minister Lan Yu, and minister Shen Mo see Your Majesty,"

"Three mistresses, please sit down,"

"Thank you, Your Majesty,"

"Xiaoqi, make a pot of hot tea, it's cold, drink some hot tea to warm up your body,"

"Yes, official,"

"Lan Yu, Shen Mo,"

"The minister is here,"

"I called you here today because I want to give you a secret mission for the imperial guards," I opened the military map of Huainan West Road on the table and said, "Look, this is the Luzhou Mansion, and it is the Anhui Province on the south bank of the Huaihe River." Fengjun, on the 28th of this month, General Xia Gui will send troops to attack the northern part of the Anfeng army, which is the area occupied by Mongolia, and intends to regain the south bank of the Huaihe River in one fell swoop. The Anfeng army is currently divided between our dynasty and Mongolia. The dividing line is Yang Jiazhen, Yangjia Town is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is a dangerous place for the Anfeng Army, Xia Gui himself is an Anfeng soldier, and he knows an extremely hidden path, so he will personally lead the team to attack Yang from this secret path. Jiazhen, Shen Mo, I plan to let you and Yun Zhongfei lead twenty imperial guards who are skilled in mountain roads to Luzhou. The purpose of this trip is only one, and that is to protect the safety of General Xia Gui."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Shen Mo said, "I promise to complete the task,"

"Well, this matter is a first-class military secret and must not be leaked. You will set off tonight to go north, and you must arrive in Luzhou before the 25th. Here is the letter from Xia Gui. You can forward it to Xia Aiqing."

Shen Mo took the letter and said: "I obey the order,"

"Report, Your Majesty, Mr. Lu Xiufu of the Military Council, Mr. Zhao Shun, the grandson of the Government Council, Mr. Zhao are waiting outside the door,"

"Xuan,"