New Shun 1730

After the banquet, the King of Ryukyu secretly sent people to the Angel Hall to offer gold and silver.

Liu Yu still confiscated it, and returned the silver he had collected every day to paralyze the Satsuma clan, and told the envoy not to do this again in the future.

Zhao Baiquan saw this with mixed feelings in his heart. There are rumors in the capital that Liu Yu is rich, but now it seems that these words may not be true.

Thinking that all the officials, big and small, who came to Ryukyu this time would scold their mothers when they returned, Zhao Baiquan didn't care. He has made a great contribution this time, helping the vassal country to put down the external invasion. If the King of Ryukyu can really follow them back to the capital, it will be considered a great event.

"Uncle Ying Suo is indeed a noble man. It seems that some of the rumors in the capital are false. It can be seen that hearing is deceptive and seeing is believing."

He complimented Liu Yu with a smile and said, "But I don't know when we will return to the court?"

"It will take some time to return to the court. Firstly, King Zhongshan needs to deal with the affairs of the Ryukyu Kingdom and clean up the pro-Japanese families. Secondly..." Liu Yu smiled and led Zhao Baiquan to say: "Master Zhao feels that the Ryukyu Kingdom Can it withstand the Japanese attack?"

At the banquet, Zhao Baiquan also used an official article to persuade the King of Ryukyu, indicating that he should not rely solely on the Celestial Empire to rectify his military equipment and cultivate moral governance.

But he knew that his words were nonsense.

No matter how hard we improve our military preparations, even if Ryukyu really develops a Qingzhou army; even if the King of Ryukyu is really the reincarnation of civil and military affairs, with unparalleled virtue and government, it will be difficult to withstand the revenge of Japan.

The gap in national power is too great.

It's okay to say some bullshit. What I'm afraid of is that I will take the bullshit seriously. Fortunately, Zhao Baiquan didn't take it seriously.

Seeing Liu Yu asking this, he pondered for a long time, then smiled, and everything was in that chuckle.

"Master Zhao, there is no one here, so I will say something directly. If the Japanese really attack Ryukyu again, do you think our country should send troops to help Ryukyu like Wanli did to aid the country?"

"Well……"

In Zhao Baiquan's opinion, this problem has no solution.

He was a doctor of the Li government, and his vassal status was related to the majesty of the Celestial Empire, so he was supposed to be beaten.

But he was opposed to the militancy, and privately believed that it was not worth it for China to go to war over the poor Ryukyus.

What was spent was the sweat of the common people and the blood of the Celestial Empire was shed. For a land of this size, go to war with the Japanese country, which could muster an army of 200,000 in the past?

Many people in the DPRK were actually opposed to even attacking the Western Regions. They believed that it was a waste of people and money, so as long as the tribute was maintained, it would be fine. To fight it off, you have to invest money every year. What do many people think of this? Just for a false reputation of opening up new territories?

Now Liu Yu took the initiative to ask Zhao Baiquan, and he really didn't know how to answer, so he had to say: "I think after this incident, the Japanese know the majesty of our heaven and will not dare to do it again in the future."

"I can use a small boat to send an envoy to the Japanese country to reprimand the Japanese people for the Ryukyu incident. The Japanese people should know how powerful our imperial court is, and they will not dare to mess around in the future."

Liu Yu snorted and asked: "If the Japanese commit another crime, are the people in the Li government prepared to commit suicide to apologize? Mr. Zhao, ask yourself some of these words, do you believe it yourself? The barbarians are fearful of power and have no morals. How about I send them to you?" I'll send Mr. Zhao to Edo Castle in a small boat to talk to the Japanese general?"

Zhao Baiquan choked and said helplessly: "Even if you go to the Japanese country, you must obey the emperor's order. If the emperor has an edict and orders me to make the Japanese go through fire and water, what should I fear? But now the Japanese have surrendered and the culprit has been killed... "

"Master Zhao, stabbing and killing people is not me, but a soldier. The culprit has been killed? Are you sure that the culprit has been killed? What Master Zhao said is contrary to the words of a saint."

Using the metaphor of a murderer and a soldier, Zhao Baiquan couldn't even say that this was nonsense. He remained silent and Liu Yu took advantage of the victory to pursue him.

"Furthermore, the Japanese invaded my vassal, but I only sent people to reprimand. Master Zhao, isn't this encouraging the barbarians to invade my vassal? Anyway, it's okay. He just received a few scoldings. Master Zhao is really a qualified civil servant. , all the etiquette is used on others.”

After brushing, Zhao Baiquan's face suddenly turned red with embarrassment, and he thought to himself, what can I do?

In terms of justice, the Japanese must be attacked; in terms of benefits, attacking the Japanese is a waste of people and money.

I thought to myself that in today's world, people who are polite to the government want to talk about profits, and the children of Wude Palace who don't study want to talk about righteousness... This world is really in chaos.

Seeing Zhao Baiquan blushing and speechless, Liu Yu's tone gradually turned a little warmer and no longer so aggressive.

"And Ryukyu has deceived the Celestial Empire for so long. Who can guarantee that this will not happen again in the future? Since the thirty-seventh year of Wanli, in the past 130 years, no one has been aware of the deception, or perhaps someone has known it and deliberately not reported it. Isn’t this a cover-up? The court should resolve the Ryukyu matter and it shouldn’t be like this anymore.”

Zhao Baiquan thought about his words for a long time, and finally said: "At the banquet, King Zhongshan mentioned the events of that year. Since the Japanese invaded the country in the thirty-seventh year of Wanli, his heart has always been towards the heaven. In the forty-fourth year of Wanli, the Japanese invaded Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Kingdom He also quietly called the police to China, which shows that Ryukyu’s people are loyal to China, but they are powerless..."

Liu Yu couldn't stop laughing.

"Master Zhao, Master Zhao, you are really stupid in reading. The King of Ryukyu said that in the 44th year of Wanli, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent Murayama Akian to invade Taiwan, and Ryukyu warned. Think about it carefully, is it out of loyalty to the Celestial Empire? Or is it because of loyalty to the Celestial Empire? Because if the Japanese occupy Taiwan, Ryukyu's transit port trade will be ruined. China will not report until it makes no money? "

"Based on the Ryukyu theory, what is the best situation? China locks down the country, and Taiwan is in the hands of China. What is the worst situation? China switches the country, and Taiwan is in the hands of the Japanese. If the Japanese occupied Taiwan back then and traded with China in the future, What do Ryukyu people earn? What do they drink?

"This dynasty has been shut down, and now Ryukyu has cleared out the Japanese. Ryukyu trade will no longer exist in the future. The loyalty of Ryukyu people is shown to the Ministry of Rites and the Rites Government, but it is for trade."

"I will put my words here today. If the court does not control the current situation, if we leave today, tomorrow Ryukyu will send people to the Japanese country to show their goodwill to ensure smooth trade. They will also use the majesty of the heaven to scare the Japanese people. , keep yourself independent. Do you dare to make a bet with me, Mr. Zhao?”

Zhao Baiquan was a student of sages, so how could he understand what was going on here?

But what Liu Yu said was hard to refute. Liu Yu said that the early warning issued in the 44th year of Ryukyu Wanli was also because he was afraid of losing his status as a transit port. He might even have deliberately caused conflicts between China and Japan in order to profit. It sounds like an inference based on the evil of human nature, but Zhao Baiquan was actually convinced by Liu Yu and already believed it.

Liu Yu added: "Don't talk about Ryukyu. What happened to North Korea when it was beaten by the Japanese? Did you trade with the Japanese without turning around? There are some things that Mr. Zhao cannot understand while sitting at home and studying."

Zhao Baiquan smiled bitterly and said: "Well, I'm not as good as Ying Suobo in this matter, and I don't dare to make this bet. But what do you want to do, sir? You can't return to the parallel system of prefectures and states in the Han Dynasty, right? Do you want the Celestial Empire to send people to Ryukyu? Be the Prime Minister or the Third Secretary?”

After the bitter smile, the smile became even bitterer.

"Uncle Ying Suo actually understands in his heart that the tributary countries of this dynasty have almost been destroyed by you in recent years. Some small countries in the west are mixed together. Many of them have been destroyed long ago, but they are still fighting Come under the banner of tribute, After the Western Region was pacified, the imperial court conducted strict investigations and punished many officials. All Mongolian ministries became vassals and were no longer tributary states; These are the Ryukyus.”

"How can there be no tributary states in the dynasty of heaven? Ying Suobo set a precedent, turning Rakshasa into diplomacy and recognizing Rakshasa's throne. Western countries have engaged in diplomacy without paying tribute, and the world is in trouble. Always keep something. China is decent."

"If the prefectures and states are to work in parallel and control the affairs of the vassals, it would be inconsistent with etiquette. If it is disrespectful, then why is the Celestial Dynasty called a Celestial Dynasty?"

Liu Yu didn't want to argue about this, but asked instead: "If we don't talk about this, we just talk about educating the vassals, does the Celestial Empire have the obligation? Ryukyu has used Hexue more and less Sinology in recent years. Is this the responsibility of the disrespectful government?"

"I only hope that Mr. Zhao will know the situation of the vassal after this trip, so as not to sit at home and speculate. Ryukyu education, education until now, the Japanese culture is booming, and the Sinology is declining. This kind of education, put in the British Guili country, The Minister of Li Government must take the blame and resign!”

The reason why I said these words to Zhao Baiquan was that Zhao Baiquan also had to write a report on his mission to Ryukyu and submit it to the court. Some of what Liu Yu said is that it brings with it the aura of a political opponent, and many people may oppose it for the sake of opposition.

Liu Yu's identity is somewhat special, so it would be better for Zhao Baiquan to say some things.

In addition, Liu Yu is not ready to return to the court directly for the time being. He wants to inspect the Ryukyu Zhongcheng Port, and by the way, he also wants to take the fleet to Japan and go straight to Edo, causing panic to the shogunate and allowing the shogunate to be with Dashun in the future. When fighting on Kyushu Island, a large number of troops must be reserved in Edo.

Liu Yu wanted the shogunate to know one thing in advance: Dashun's navy was capable of landing in Edo, so that the shogunate would not dare to send too many troops to Kyushu Island.

And we also need to know that Dashun's navy can land anywhere in Japan. If you don't want to be stolen, then honestly prepare a team of emergency troops for each vassal state, and send fewer people to Kyushu Island as soon as possible. Once the contract is signed, it's good for you and me.

As for landing directly in Edo, Liu Yu has not considered such an idea for the time being. He wants to save more face for the shogunate and retain more of the authority of the shogunate so that the shogunate can serve as a local official.

If Dashun does not want to sell arms in Japan, but wants to sell silk porcelain, then it is best to let the Japanese shogunate still exist and maintain the current seemingly unified market.

This is a very simple reason. Japan is too short of resources. If the authority of the shogunate is completely lost and it returns to the Warring States Period, the various daimyo will definitely be desperate to make money, expand the army, and buy arms. Then there would be no money to buy what Liu Yu wanted to sell.

Moreover, selling arms is a temporary pleasure, but the consequences are endless.

This was not the case with porcelain, silk and cotton. They were particularly pleasant to sell, and even more so after the local porcelain and textile industries were completely destroyed.

In addition, he also wanted to send a letter to the shogunate, teaching the shogunate one thing: If Dashun really wants to force Japan to open a country, then go to Kyoto and find the so-called "emperor" to take the blame. This will make it easier for him to do so. Shogunate steps.

Lest no one in Japan thinks of this method of finding someone to take the blame, and the shogunate insists on maintaining its prestige, that would be bad.

Anyway, in the current situation, once Japan switches, whoever has trouble with the shogunate will have trouble with him. Whoever dares to provoke civil strife in Japan and restore the king to power will be in trouble with the shareholders of the entire southeastern coast who have invested in trade with Japan.

These issues are closely related to Ryukyu. Ryukyu will inevitably lose trade opportunities in the future. We must ensure that Ryukyu will not turn into pirates this year, and we must find a way to make Ryukyu slightly reformed. In the future, as a naval base, it can at least buy food here, instead of letting his sailors chew banana leaves and eat cycad seeds like the Ryukyu people.

These considerations do not need to be discussed with Zhao Baiquan, but to achieve the goal, Zhao Baiquan needs to "guide" the King of Ryukyu.

For Ryukyu, this is also an excellent opportunity for reform.

A large number of pro-Japanese factions were purged, all of whom were upper-class nobles in Ryukyu. Foreign policy is pro-Japanese, and internally it is extremely opposed to the investigation of land and the implementation of the equal land order. Ryukyu can take this opportunity to make some reforms.

As for the future education, assimilation, control and other issues, the emperor has some words that cannot be wiped off the emperor's face. Especially it seems to be bullying a small country like Ryukyu that is harmless to people and animals.

Zhao Baiquan just started a good topic, that is, the parallel system of counties and kingdoms in the early Han Dynasty. The parallel system of the Han Dynasty provided a good template for the transition from vassal to native land. However, it was not suitable for Ryukyu in Liu Yu's opinion.

This was like a game between the local and central governments. The people who were airdropped to the local areas by the central government would inevitably fight against each other, which gave the Ryukyu King an opportunity to unite the local clans of Ryukyu.

Because the people appointed by the Celestial Empire had too deep a foundation, the Ryukyu King had to seek cooperation with the local clans.

On the contrary, since there were still remnants of the 36 surnames of the Fujian people, they had no chance to govern in the political situation of Ryukyu due to the suppression of the pro-Japanese faction in recent years.

This was an opportunity. The Ryukyu King should choose a local person from the 36 surnames of the Fujian people to serve as the ruler, and take advantage of this opportunity of the great purge to completely eliminate the power of the local clans. With the orientation of strengthening the royal power, completely eliminating the pro-Japanese faction, and supporting the 36 surnames with shallow roots but making the Celestial Empire happy, this should also be what the Ryukyu King would like to see.

Positions such as the Prime Minister, the Ruler, and the Three Officials can be left to the locals. But the imperial court still had to send people to do some education... that is, assimilation work.

Perhaps in the Celestial Empire, the Li Government was the least prestigious of the six governments. But in Ryukyu, the Celestial Empire Commissioner in charge of education and etiquette had a very different status.

On the one hand, he could carry out assimilation work and reverse the situation where the study of harmony was better than that of Chinese studies, and on the other hand, he could monitor the actions of Ryukyu.

After this great purge, the 36 surnames that had been suppressed could emerge and fill the vacancies.

In history, Cai Wen, in view of the situation in Ryukyu at that time, adopted a policy of cultural pro-China to attack political enemies and political pro-Japan to maintain Ryukyu's two-sidedness. This is understandable and a choice made by smart people. Just because his ancestors were the direct descendants of the four calligraphers of the Song Dynasty, "Mi, Su, Cai, and Huang", who were famous in history, it does not mean that he must be close to the Celestial Empire. That only exists in an imaginary world.

Smart people will adopt new policies as the situation changes. I think that after this incident, the option of political pro-Japan can be completely ruled out by smart people.

As for whether Cai Wen can stand out, it still depends on whether he has real ability. Before, Ryukyu was all about tribute, and tribute was everything.

Now that tribute trade is no longer available through China and Japan, it is still possible to make achievements at this time, at least to let the people of Ryukyu eat sweet potatoes, which is real ability. Otherwise, just planting trees, building ships, and being able to maintain tribute is considered a great man, but that is too simple.