The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Lord, two Ryukyu merchant ships have arrived at the dock, delivering two ships of silk and porcelain, as well as sulfur, ironware and other things."

On the top floor of a three-story wooden attic in the center of Kagoshima City, the castle of Satsuma Domain in Japan, a waiter knelt on the ground and saluted to the lord above to report.

"Things from the Ming Dynasty?"

The current lord of Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Yoshihisa, simply asked.

"Yes, Lord, except for sulfur, they are all Ming Dynasty goods."

The waiter immediately replied, "Lord, do you want to confiscate the ships and goods?"

"Two ships of goods?"

Shimazu Yoshihisa fell into silence for a moment, thinking about how to deal with the two ships of goods.

Located in the southern part of Kyushu Island, Japan, Satsuma Domain and the Ryukyu Kingdom are close neighbors, and the two sides have a long history of exchanges.

In 1372, the King of Zhongshan of the Ryukyu Kingdom accepted the title of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. The Ryukyu Kingdom actively carried out transit trade with Japan under the background of tribute trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Based on the principle of "appeasement of distant countries, more generous gifts and less gifts", the Ming Dynasty always returned the tributes of the vassal states at several times or even dozens of times the price.

The Ming Dynasty knew that this was a loss-making business, so it limited the number of tributes from the vassal states. Ryukyu was allowed to "pay tribute once every two years", but in fact, Ryukyu paid tribute in various ways, and most of the tributes received were sold to Japan.

Therefore, the old saying "the world is bustling for profit, and the world is bustling for profit" makes sense. Because Ryukyu frequently paid tribute and the country was weak, many Chinese people in later generations thought that Ryukyu, which was still independent at that time, was the most loyal vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, this vassal state also had its own little thoughts.

Of course, making money by taking advantage of the tribute policy of the Ming court is what almost all vassal states do, and this cannot deny the loyalty of Ryukyu to the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, when you are strong, vassal states will be loyal to you, and all they ask for is your protection.

Due to the influence of the Japanese pirates, the Ming Dynasty restricted trade with Japan very early, until the sea was banned.

And if Japan wants to purchase goods from the Ming Dynasty, in addition to smuggling, the only way to obtain them is through transit trade with third countries.

Of course, this method, with middlemen making a profit, is also very expensive.

And the third countries are naturally Korea and Ryukyu, the two vassal states that seem to be the most loyal to the Ming Dynasty and pay tribute on time.

If you think about it carefully, you will find it funny.

The so-called most loyal is actually just a lure, but this is the eternal truth of the international community.

The hustle and bustle is just for profit.

The Satsuma Domain, located at the southernmost tip of Japan, is naturally the main trading partner of the Ryukyu Kingdom. They sell goods to the Satsuma Domain, and then spread them to all parts of Japan.

In order to strengthen the management of merchant ships traveling between Satsuma and Ryukyu, in 1508, Satsuma began to issue "Ryukyu Sea Red Seal" to Ryukyu merchant ships, that is, Ryukyu ferry licenses, referred to as "Seal".

In 1566, after Shimazu Yoshihisa inherited the position of lord of Satsuma, Satsuma strengthened the management of Ryukyu merchant ships, and took strict measures to confiscate goods and seize ships for merchant ships without "Seal", and hoped to get the cooperation of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

However, the Ryukyu Kingdom did not attach much importance to this, and still allowed some merchant ships without "Seal" to engage in trading activities in Naha Port, which caused dissatisfaction in Satsuma.

For trading ships, no one would not welcome it, but no Seal means no tax paid to Satsuma.

Without contribution, naturally no one will be welcomed.

For this reason, last year, in 1574, Satsuma Domain compiled the "breach of contract" cases of the Ryukyu Kingdom over the years into a document and sent it to the Ryukyu Kingdom, warning the Ryukyu Kingdom that if it did not "repent", it would inevitably lead to the deterioration of bilateral relations.

In March of this year, the Ryukyu Kingdom sent a "monsen" to Satsuma Domain to congratulate Shimazu Yoshihisa on his succession to the throne of Satsuma Domain.

Satsuma Domain's important officials Uehara Naochika and Kamii Kakukan confronted the envoys of the Ryukyu Kingdom and demanded that the envoys of the Ryukyu Kingdom explain the "breach of contract" cases of the Ryukyu Kingdom in recent years, the late arrival of the "monsen", and the meager gifts.

When Shimazu Yoshihisa succeeded to the throne of Satsuma Domain, King Sho Gen of the Ryukyu Kingdom passed away and King Sho Ei ascended the throne. Due to the complicated state affairs, the Ryukyu Kingdom did not send envoys to congratulate in time.

As for the important officials of Satsuma Domain, using the "monsen" to make trouble was essentially because after nine years of inheriting the throne of Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Yoshihisa hoped to control the maritime trade of the Ryukyu Kingdom by forcing the Ryukyu Kingdom to accept the "inpan" system of Satsuma Domain and gain economic benefits from it.

Satsuma Domain used the "monsen" to make trouble in fact to find a reason to control the Ryukyu Kingdom and find an excuse for future intervention or even direct military invasion.

At this time, Shimazu Yoshihisa was also thinking whether to really put these two Ryukyu merchant ships under the gun.

Now Japan is in the "Warring States" era, and the villages in the country are fighting to the death for hegemony, and the demand for all kinds of materials is amazing.

The output of local materials in Japan, of course, cannot withstand such rapid consumption, so purchasing goods from overseas to supplement them has become an inevitable choice.

At this time, if the two ships of goods are confiscated, coupled with the rude behavior of the important officials Uehara Naochika and Kamii Kakukan who accused the Ryukyu Kingdom in person in the previous two months, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction in the Ryukyu Kingdom, and then it may sever ties with Satsuma Domain.

If it were normal, it wouldn't matter, it would just be a matter of who could afford the most time, but the situation was different now.

"How much sulfur did they bring?"

Shimazu Yoshihisa suddenly asked.

"A boatload of brimstone."

The waiter replied immediately.

"It seems they know what we lack most, haha"

A sneer burst from Shimazu Yoshihisa's mouth.

Just a few days ago, the Satsuma Domain received a large purchase order for a large amount of sulfur, saltpeter and ironware.

Well, the buyer is Oda Nobunaga, a famous figure in Japan's Warring States Period.

At this time, he was busy preparing for the decisive battle with Takeda Katsuyori. At this time, the Takeda Army recruited a "huge" cavalry force, preparing to defeat the Oda Army in one fell swoop, thereby consolidating their number one position in Japan.

Oda Nobunaga does not have the force to fight a decisive battle with Takeda Katsuyori, so he is building a large number of iron cannons and manufacturing gunpowder. Whether it is homemade or purchased, the iron materials for making iron cannons and the raw materials for making gunpowder are the most popular materials for the Oda army now. Urgently needed supplies.

"One ship of sulfur and half a ship of iron. Take it and tell them to bring more for trade."

Shimazu Yoshihisa finally made the decision not to confiscate the two ships and supplies.

Compared with the value of the two ships, the continuous flow of goods seems to be more helpful in increasing the strength and influence of the Satsuma Domain.

"Go and inform Kakukane Kamei and arrange for our merchants to transport the things to Gifu City. Don't forget those iron cannons."

Shimazu Yoshihisa ordered.

The Gifu Castle he mentioned was built by Oda Nobunaga after he captured Inabayama Castle.

Gifu Castle is located in central Japan and was an important stronghold of Oda Nobunaga during the Warring States Period.

The city controls the mouth of the river and the entrance to the plain, and can control the surrounding river land. It can attack along the current when approaching, and when retreating, it can rely on danger to hold on and wait for reinforcements.

Due to its important strategic location, Gifu Castle became a key fortress in Oda Nobunaga's process of unifying Japan.

The decisive battle prepared by Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Katsuyori this time is the Battle of Nagasaki in Japanese history. It is a famous battle in Japan's Warring States Period.

In this battle, the Oda and Tokugawa forces defeated the Takeda Army at Nagashino with absolute superiority, and is generally considered a victory for the musketeers over the cavalry.

The Battle of Nagasaki became a famous battle during the Warring States Period in Japan, not only because it was a battle of muskets against cavalry, but also because it was the beginning of the complete decline of the Takeda family.

For Katsuyori Takeda, this battle was a tragedy that he had to perform.

He returned to the sect with a foreign surname. After serving as the governor of the family, his prestige was not enough to convince the public. Faced with many arrogant veterans left by his father Takeda Shingen, he had to win a decisive battle to make his throne as stable as Mount Tai. For this reason, he only He was able to repeatedly send troops westward, looking for opportunities to fight decisively with Oda and Tokugawa.

However, at this time, Oda Nobunaga had already freed up his hands from the Kinai chaos and led tens of thousands of troops to support Tokugawa Ieyasu. In comparison, the Takeda army was few in strength, and its soldiers were weakened by the fortification of the castle. From a military point of view, Katsuyori should really retreat, but from a political perspective, he sadly had to go through this battle and his prestige was immediately ruined.

Oda Nobunaga deployed a large number of horse-proof wooden fences in front of the camp to delay the Takeda cavalry attack, and piled a large number of iron gunners and archers behind, killing a large number of Takeda family cavalry, and ultimately won the war.

After this battle, Takeda Katsuyori's cavalry were either shot to death, trampled to death by horses, or lost control of their horses, causing chaos.

The elite cavalry that the Takeda family has run for generations, the "Red Bei", were all destroyed, and three of Takeda's four ministers were eliminated, causing the Takeda family to completely withdraw from the stage of Japan's Warring States Period.

But it should be noted that the Takeda Cavalry Regiment is just a legend. In this Takeda army, the number of cavalry is only a few thousand, and the rest are infantry.

However, the cavalry charge not only resulted in the loss of the cavalry, but also caused the death of many famous generals from the Takeda and Hojo families to gunfire.

Lacking excellent generals, the remaining tens of thousands of infantry were quickly defeated by the Oda army.

However, the war has not yet begun, and both sides are preparing for the decisive battle.

The Satsuma clan not only wanted to sell the sulfur and iron materials sold from Ryukyu to Oda Nobunaga, but also a batch of iron cannons they made.

Correspondingly, there was actually a batch of war horses that had been shipped to the Takeda family earlier.

At this time, when these strategic materials are sold, the gold and silver offered by the other party are at a high premium, and there is no shortage of money at all.

As for the Japanese country itself producing sulfur, why did it need to purchase it from abroad? Naturally, all the great names in the Japanese country were frantically expanding their armaments, consuming extremely huge materials, and the local production was simply not enough.

Shimazu Yoshihisa did not ask about the price of goods from the Ryukyu Kingdom. Needless to say, they must be much more expensive than those sold in the Ming Kingdom.

Without enough profits, they would not be so active in trafficking to Satsuma Domain.

As for the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, they arrive at that fixed time every year, attracting countless merchants to rush to buy goods every time, and the prices are naturally not cheap.

"Damn it, they took all the money away."

Shimazu Yoshihisa murmured in his mouth, and he didn't know whether the "they" in his mouth meant Chinese merchants or the Ryukyu Kingdom.

However, at this time, a bold idea was gradually forming in Shimazu Yoshihisa's mind, that is, to capture the Ryukyu Kingdom by force and seize the Kanai in their hands.

By that time, the Satsuma Domain could take the Ryukyu Kingdom's Kanhe and go to the Ming Dynasty to conduct tribute trade.

Yes, it’s trade.

The Satsuma clan did not even respect the emperor when paying tribute, let alone the Ming emperor.

On the pier of Naha Port, several Ryukyu businessmen coming out of the city gathered together, but if you look closely, you will find that they vaguely surrounded a tall and strong man among them in the middle.

"Brother Chen, I heard from Japanese businessmen that the Takeda family and the Oda family are preparing for another war.

The unexpected death of the head of the Takeda family caused heavy losses to the Takeda army, which had always been on the defensive. But now they have reached a point of no return. Faced with the pressing pressure of the Oda family and the Tokugawa family, they have no choice but to fight decisively. "

"Yes, I have similar news over there.

A batch of war horses were transported just a few days ago. It is said that they were war horses sold by the feudal lord to the Takeda family.

The blacksmiths of the Satsuma Domain have been rushing to make iron cannons recently, and it is said that the Oda family purchased them. "

Several businessmen told the man in the middle about the news they had learned, but the man just listened quietly with a faint smile on his face.

Yes, this person is naturally the spy sent by Jinyiwei. His surname is Chen Shen. He arrived here on a Ming Dynasty merchant ship bound for Ryukyu trade.

With the relationship with the merchant ship, Chen Shen was active in Ryukyu as a Ming merchant.

This time, I finally boarded a merchant ship from the Ryukyu Kingdom and landed on the land of Japan for the first time.

"I heard that Japan has been fighting fiercely in the country in recent years. What are they fighting for?"

Chen Shen actually knew some information about Japan before setting off, but at this time he still pretended to be ignorant and asked, in order to learn more about the current situation of Japan through the Ryukyu people.

"With territory and power, their emperor no longer has much influence."

When Ryukyu businessmen talked about what they knew about the situation in Japan, Chen Shen couldn't help but frown when he heard the word "emperor" in their mouths.

The official information of the Ming Dynasty will never use the word "Emperor", because in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, there will only be one emperor, and that is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the world will not allow a second emperor.

Even though the imperial court knew that there was a pope in the West, after all, he was just a religious leader and had no secular affairs, so no one mentioned it too much.

But today, Chen Shen learned from Ryukyu merchants that the king of Japan was actually called the emperor. He couldn't help frowning and thinking about whether to report this matter back.

In fact, the senior officials of the Ming Dynasty had heard about this matter, but in their opinion, it was just Yelang's arrogance, and the little king dared to proclaim himself emperor.

In addition to the civil strife in Japan at this time, everyone knew that the so-called emperor had actually been emptied out and lost his rights. He was no different from the king of Zhou during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He lived entirely on the charity of those princes, and he just laughed it off.

If the emperor at this time had real power in the Japanese country, I am afraid that senior officials like the Ming Dynasty would not be able to sit still.

Under the order of Wei Guangde, the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty had already investigated the intelligence of the Japanese country in all aspects. Not only did they set foot in the Japanese country through the "smuggling maritime merchants" line, they also sent people to contact the Japanese country from North Korea and Ryukyu from the north and south, striving to fully understand the Japanese country at this time. situation and properties.

At this time, among the top military officials of the Ming Dynasty, rumors about the Japanese gold and silver mountains were quietly circulating.