New Shun 1730

For these matters, it is best to "guide" the King of Ryukyu to make the right choice before he goes to the capital to plead guilty, and to make things clear in black and white in the capital.

Liu Yu believed that he was far inferior to Zhao Baiquan in terms of reasoning according to the current three views. Many times he feels that there is something wrong with other people's heads, but similarly, others actually feel that there is something wrong with his head.

So he very much hoped that Zhao Baiquan would handle this matter.

"Master Zhao, during the Hong and Yong years of the previous dynasty, the Celestial Empire granted thirty-six surnames to Ryukyu. One was to teach Ryukyu how to build ships in order to pay tribute; the other was to educate Ryukyu and bring them closer to the Celestial Empire."

"Nowadays, the thirty-six surnames are scattered, and there are not many left. They have been suppressed over the years. If Ryukyu wants to be convinced and educated, for the long-term plan, I think the King of Ryukyu should go to the table. Please give thirty-six more surnames."

“But this time, it’s mostly craftsmen and those who are good at farming.”

"As for Ryukyu's national affairs, you and I should not interfere, but the Japanese have penetrated too deeply before. Since we are angels, we have to do something."

Zhao Baiquan had already seen what Liu Yu's "action" meant. Hearing that Liu Yu was going to do something again, he felt nervous.

Xin Dao said that your last action was to launch a big purge and directly arrest the pro-Japanese faction. If we are going to do something this time, is it possible that we really want to force the King of Ryukyu to become a puppet?

However, Liu Yu's next words made him relax a little.

"Mr. Zhao, my cultural level is not high. I only know some practical knowledge. I know nothing about poetry and songs. However, there are many people in Ryukyu who admire our dynasty, and there are also some survivors of the thirty-sixth surname. Why don't Mr. Zhao take advantage of these few days to talk to them? Communicate a lot?”

"Now that we have driven away the Japanese and are gaining the upper hand, we might as well communicate with the surviving members of the thirty-six surnames... It just so happens that there are many official positions in Ryukyu at this time. Of course, you and I are angels, and you are opposed to imitating the envoys of the Han and Tang Dynasties, so We don’t want to interfere too much in Ryukyu, but we can communicate with the survivors of the Celestial Empire, isn’t it?”

Hearing that Liu Yu was not going to directly lead the troops and let the King of Ryukyu appoint officials, Zhao Baiquan knew that Liu Yu had taken a step back. He was secretly relieved and understood what Liu Yu meant.

Speaking of exchanges, the King of Ryukyu will definitely take notice. As long as Zhao Baiquan showed his closeness to the surviving members of the thirty-six surnames, the King of Ryukyu would naturally understand that this was an opportunity to show his loyalty to the Celestial Empire: in the past, people who were pro-Satsuma were in power, but now of course they had to take on a new look.

When the time comes, in front of the King of Ryukyu, it is indeed an acceptable course of action for Zhao Baiquan to make a little suggestion and let the King of Ryukyu take the initiative to apply for the imperial court to send people to educate him.

The two had differences, but Liu Yu had already given in, so Zhao Baiquan said: "Uncle Ying Suo, you might as well tell me what effect you want to achieve, so that I can try to see if they have the talent. After all, Ryukyu affairs are different from ours. ”

Liu Yu asked: "Liquor, flour, and tofu in the Ryukyu Kingdom can only be produced by the royal family and can only be produced by the royal family. As a result, the people do not grow rice, wheat, or beans, but only eat sweet potatoes, banana leaves, and cycad fruits." Food, is this a bad policy?”

Zhao Baiquan nodded and thought to himself, if this is not a bad government, then what is a bad government? If the emperor of China dared to do this, he would have been scolded to death long ago.

But when I think about it, Ryukyu's current political level is still at the stage of the ninth-rank Zhongzheng system, so we can't ask for too much.

Liu Yu asked again: "Ryukyu originally had a land equalization law, but it has not changed for many years, allowing wealthy families to occupy more land. If the Ryukyu State implements land inspection and inventory of land, will this be a virtuous policy?"

If we do this in Dashun, many people will definitely oppose it.

But in Ryukyu, the land does not belong to Dashun officials, so we can consider it completely from the perspective of three views. Standing and talking does not hurt our backs, and we have no vested interests, so we can speak better than we sing.

Zhao Baiquan nodded again.

Liu Yu then said: "Ryukyu is a country of hundreds of miles. How can there be so many political affairs? Whoever can inventory the fields, cancel the royal family's monopoly on rice and wheat, and reclaim the land is a capable minister and has talent. If there are more others, it will be difficult for others to do it. . How can you ask for a top candidate in the imperial examination in one county?

"I don't ask for anything else in the future. If I go on an expedition under the king's orders, I can just spend money to buy food in Ryukyu. The navy won't eat banana leaves, let alone cycad fruits. I don't ask how much the Ryukyu people can contribute. I'm afraid It’s something that money can’t buy.”

"Lack of people and skills, let Ryukyu ask Your Majesty to grant thirty-six more surnames and teach them how to farm and cultivate the land. As for education, needless to say, it is necessary to vigorously develop Chinese studies, abandon Japanese studies, and take on a new look."

"The Ryukyus is a small country. In terms of outstanding people and places, it is not as good as the Central Plains. In addition, it is difficult to have great talents if it is not a hundred miles away. But I think this country, which is a hundred miles away, cannot be governed clearly. It is really dark and unclear in politics. Mr. Zhao can be compared with thirty The survivors of the six surnames communicate with each other. If anyone can see the problem in Ryukyu..."

Zhao Baiquan smiled and said: "If anyone sees the problem, they can mention it when talking to King Zhongshan: The country has talents but does not use them, so there will be disasters like Japanese slaves."

Seeing that Zhao Baiquan was able to figure it out, Liu Yu smiled and said: "That's it. If Mr. Zhao can accomplish this, it can be regarded as practicing virtuous government. I don't have to think about the land inventory and other things in this dynasty for the time being, but in Ryukyu, Mr. Zhao has no land, so I think it’s time to implement benevolent and righteous policies to deal with his true feelings.”

Zhao Baiquan sarcastically said again. It was neither a smile nor a smile. He also knew that Liu Yu disliked them, but this matter was indeed an opportunity to implement benevolent government as Liu Yu said.

There is no chance to implement benevolent government in China, but there is always a chance to try it in Ryukyu.

Thinking again about Liu Yu's style of speaking and doing, I also felt that it was really inappropriate for Liu Yu to communicate with the descendants of the 36th surname: they couldn't talk together, they had no common language at all, and they didn't know poetry.

"Okay, then I will go visit the descendants of the thirty-sixth surname of the Celestial Empire."

In the next few days, Liu Yu met with the King of Ryukyu a few more times and watched Ryukyu's characteristic "exorcise". In this great purge of the pro-Japanese faction, the heads of the seven major families were divided into eight sections. This was the heaviest punishment in Ryukyu.

It was originally meant to be seen by Heaven, so of course the two angels had to be present at the execution scene.

Not long after the execution, Liu Yu took people, riding horses donated by the King of Ryukyu, and some naval officers who majored in fortress engineering, to Zhongcheng City to inspect the construction of the city wall with a strong Japanese style. Determine the power of the siege artillery and where to attack it most likely to cause the wall to collapse.

Looking down from above, it is the Ryukyu military port that Liu Yu thinks is the most suitable, Zhongcheng Port. The waves of the Pacific Ocean are blocked by the islands in the distance, and the peninsula blocks the surrounding waves, so the waves are calm under the bay.

Two expedition ships are measuring the water depth there to see if they can anchor directly here in case of a possible typhoon.

These military cadets studying fort engineering also took a fancy to this good place. They pointed to the Liansheng Peninsula in the north and said: "If you choose to build a military port here, the forts and fortresses can be built on that peninsula. As long as the navy is here, , then the forts and forts on the peninsula cannot be breached; on the contrary, as long as the forts are there, the military port will be safe. If the tide is not strong and the water depth is suitable, it is the most suitable place for a military port. "

Where they pointed, there was a small hill. There was a dilapidated castle on the hill. It was also built by the Ryukyu people. It probably existed a long time ago.

The group of people rode around the bay and went to the castle. The castle is not big, but the location is excellent.

The location of the military port chosen by Liu Yu was within the range of the shore artillery at this time, and there was a small hill on which to build.

It is only a few dozen meters away from the beach, and Ryukyu is not big in the first place, and the peninsula is even narrower. If you control this place, as long as the navy is not destroyed and the supplies are unobstructed, according to the new fortress modification method, the troops attacking from Ryukyu cannot be deployed. As long as you are stationed there, Two hundred men, coupled with enough artillery, can protect the military port without any worries.

This castle is in poor repair, but it has a good vision and a good location. There are natural slopes and sufficient stones from the old castle. As long as the King of Ryukyu can come forward to collect labor and have professional project leaders, it will not be difficult to build it.

"Do you think this place is okay?"

The officers and cadets all said: "The geography of this place is very awkward. Ryukyu is barren. In fact, it is not very suitable to build a fortress here. There are insufficient supplies and we can only take shelter from the wind. It is difficult to store supplies."

"But if we don't occupy it and others do, this will be the forward base that threatens our coast."

"But actually, since we have occupied them, they are not very useful. If we want to monitor the Japanese countries nearby, Tsushima and Jeju Islands are better because they are more convenient for supply."

"In short, this is a place that is not very useful to us, but it must not be occupied by others. If we are on the defensive, this place can be compared to Yumen Pass; if we are on the offensive, this place can be called useless. But the momentum is impermanent, and the water is impermanent. Occupy it first. There are always benefits.”

These officer cadets have a good vision and have studied under Liu Yu for many years. Fortress engineering requires learning Western fortress technology, but it also requires learning about mountain geography and geopolitical knowledge.

How to build a fortress is just a skill; where it is worth building a fortress is knowledge.

Liu Yu generally agreed with the view that this place was useless, but he still talked about why he wanted to occupy this place.

"If we only talk about our country and the Japanese country, you are right to say so. But don't forget that the Japanese and the Dutch are very close. During the Shimabara Rebellion, the Dutch sent warships to support it. After the British withdrew from the Japanese country, they He wanted to do business with Japan, but Japan refused on the grounds that the King of England married a Portuguese princess. This shows that the Japanese understand the outside world far better than the ministers of this dynasty. "

"Although they are all excuses, it may be possible to find the reason why the King of England married a Catholic, and it also shows that he has a deep understanding of Western countries."

"If the Japanese want to change in the future, they will not get it from us and will have to go to the Westerners. If the Westerners come, this is the only way."

"When Nanyang is settled in the future, this place will really be useless. But now...it's still worth spending tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"You guys will stay here and build the fortress. Next year I will bring the cannon. This winter, I will also bring some more rice to show sympathy for the people of Ryukyu. Repair it as soon as possible. Before next winter, the fortress and port will be , will be built.”

According to his opinion, the war with Japan should be over before next winter. The Nanyang issue cannot be resolved for the time being, so we must prevent Japan from colluding with the Netherlands.

Here we can strictly guard against Dutch smuggling. If necessary, we can put aside the Manila Massacre and settle the scores later. We can first cooperate with the Spanish in the containment. As long as we avoid the British fleet attacking Spain and don't drag Britain into the water.

Dashun has locked up Japan. If Japan wants to learn new technologies, the only option is the Netherlands. If the Dutch want to bypass Dashun and communicate with Japan, they will choose the Kuroshio Current route, and Ryukyu is the only way.

But think about it again. If we can conquer Nanyang, take over Hokkaido, force Korea to rent a port to manage the whale sea, and set up a checkpoint in Malacca in a few years... By then, Ryukyu will not even be a chicken rib. But now we have to throw tens of thousands of taels of silver into it to build a military port and a fortress. I can't help but gnashing my teeth and feeling a pain.