The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the past, the Ming Dynasty did not specifically study how to configure the army to maximize its combat effectiveness, and often allowed the generals of the garrisons to play freely.

This is also why Ma Fang was able to mobilize the cavalry of the garrisons under his jurisdiction in Xuanfu and form a cavalry of thousands of people, and the battalion soldiers recruited by Qi Jiguang could be equipped according to his needs to fight against the Japanese with the mandarin duck formation.

It is the right of the general to deploy subordinates.

However, because it is difficult to get the support of superiors and the Ministry of War, and often cannot get the required equipment, and there are other obstacles, most people are unwilling to do it, and would rather live a mediocre life.

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In fact, if you think about it, you will understand that Ma Fang can obtain a large number of three-eyed guns needed by the cavalry because of the support of the capital, and Qi Jiguang can do things at his convenience because he has a good relationship with Hu Zongxian.

Now, Li Chengliang is also the same.

He asked the capital for Portuguese cannons, and the court allocated them to him from Jiangnan.

Now, he wanted to redistribute these Portuguese cannons under his command, and naturally there would be no resistance.

At least, no one of these generals dared to oppose his opinion.

Li Chengliang began to urgently adjust his subordinates to adapt to the Ming-Myanmar war situation.

Because a batch of Portuguese cannons had just arrived recently, and there should be a steady stream of equipment to be transported to the southwest later, so he was not in a hurry to advance quickly.

On the Lujiang River in the distance, the Burmese army could not find many ships.

If everything went well with the cavalry led by Li Ruzhang, he would have burned the Lujiang wharf and the ships there.

What Li Chengliang had to do now was to move step by step, first eat up most of the Burmese army on the Lujiang River, and then eat away the remaining forces bit by bit, so as to completely eliminate the Burmese resistance forces.

At this time, the capital of the Ming Dynasty naturally did not know that it had just experienced a small defeat, hundreds of people died, and a batch of artillery was lost.

In the Imperial City of Beijing, Wei Guangde of the Cabinet was on duty. Wei Guangde was entertaining Liu Shouyou, the commander of the Jinyiwei.

"You mean, the Shimazu family of Satsuma Domain in Japan may have ambitions for Ryukyu?"

Wei Guangde rubbed his temple and asked suspiciously.

Wei Guangde didn't know when Japan invaded Ryukyu, but he remembered that it should be in the Qing Dynasty, because later generations seemed to say that before and after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the ruler of Ryukyu had asked China for help at that time, saying that Japan occupied their country.

From this point of view, this matter was most likely not something that happened during the Ming Dynasty.

The reason for caring about Ryukyu is that regardless of the interests of Ryukyu's tribute, since the Ming Dynasty, since accepting the tribute from all nations, Ryukyu has come all the time, and it is also loyal among the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, no less than Korea.

As for later generations, the actions of the Korean country are actually related to the decline of China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the First and Second World Wars.

But at present, as the undisputed superpower in the Far East, no one dares to do anything behind the scenes.

"According to the news sent back, I guess this is what it means.

Since the head of the Shimazu family was replaced a few years ago, they have been using trade to put pressure on the Ryukyu Kingdom and demand various conditions.

Before, the Shimazu family and the Otomo family, which belonged to the Satsuma domain, had a dispute. The Otomo family sent troops to attack the Shimazu family, but failed. It is said that the people of the Otomo family have now fled to Kuniko."

Liu Shouyou told him what he knew.

"Is it here? Why did they go to war?"

Wei Guangde shook the document in his hand, which was a copy of the Jinyiwei intelligence brought by Liu Shouyou.

"Yes."

Liu Shouyou replied.

"Please sit down for a while, I'll take a look first."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and looked through the intelligence sent from Ryukyu.

The story started three months ago. The current head of the Otomo family, Otomo Sorin, was baptized as a Christian and officially became a Christian.

As a daimyo, he did not choose Buddhism or other sects in Japan, but chose to join the Western Church, which made Wei Guangde frown slightly.

And the Otomo family and the Shimazu family have always had this territorial dispute.

After he was baptized as a Christian, he launched a war against the Shimazu family on the grounds that the Shimazu family restricted Christian missionaries from preaching.

In fact, everyone knows that the real purpose of the Otomo family's war is to expand the territory.

You know, after the Oda family gained an advantage in the battle with the Takeda army, they did not rest in the past two years, but continued to encroach on the surrounding areas and expand their power.

This made almost all the daimyo in the entire Japan alert, especially those daimyo with some ambitions, so they followed suit, hoping to expand their territory and power in this way.

Although the Otomo army had an advantage in numbers, the total number of troops they mobilized exceeded 70,000, while the Shimazu family could only mobilize more than 40,000 troops.

Therefore, while the Shimazu family tried their best to recruit soldiers, they also forced the Ryukyu people who came to Shimazu to do business to join their army, and even asked the Ryukyu Kingdom to provide them with military rations.

Yes, although they were all temporary recruits, they still had to feed the soldiers in the war.

And suddenly summoning so many people made it difficult for the Shimazu family to provide so much food in a short time, so they turned their eyes to the Ryukyu across the sea.

In fact, making such a request may also be a test to observe the reaction of Ryukyu.

As a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, Ryukyu had always paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, they rejected such an impolite request from a daimyo in Japan.

If the Shimazu family wanted to report and increase taxes on ships traveling to and from Ryukyu before, they were willing to sit down and negotiate calmly, and ignored their unreasonable wishes.

Although they were rejected by the Ryukyu side, the Shimazu family was busy dealing with the Otomo family, so they naturally had no strength to do anything to Ryukyu.

This matter seemed like a joke, and the Ryukyu Kingdom did not take it seriously, but just laughed it off.

However, the Jinyiwei spies lurking in the Ryukyu Kingdom still found out the details. Combined with what the Shimazu family had done to Ryukyu before, they came to a conclusion that the Shimazu family had ideas about the Ryukyu Kingdom.

And this intelligence also attached the results of the battle between the Otomo family and the Shimazu family that they had just received. The Otomo family was defeated and the Shimazu family won.

With the remaining power of victory, they are annexing the territory of the Otomo family.

This is the battle known as the Battle of Mimikawa in Japanese history, a war within the daimyo.

Otomo Sorin has always had the ambition to dominate northern Kyushu. He, Shimazu Yoshihisa, and Ryuzoji Takanobu have always maintained a three-way balance of power in Kyushu.

In the eyes of the Otomo family, the Shimazu family is undoubtedly the weaker of the two families of Shimazu Yoshihisa and Ryuzoji Takanobu, so they think they have a chance to defeat them.

So, Otomo Sorin led more than 43,000 troops from Bungo to Hyuga, and sent another 30,000 troops from Higo to Hyuga, determined to occupy Hyuga.

The Otomo army destroyed temples and shrines along the way, and was busy spreading Christian doctrines. The whole army had no morale.

Otomo Sorin stationed his troops in Mushiga and appointed Tahara Yoshitaka as the general commander to command the entire army.

The Otomo army surrounded the Shimazu army in Takashi with 45,000 soldiers. Under the tenacious resistance of Yamada Arinori, the Otomo army could not capture it for a long time. At this time, Shimazu Yoshihisa personally led 25,000 people to rush to the rescue. Both sides set up their battle array near Mimikawa, ready to fight to the death.

After the outbreak of the war, the veteran general of the Otomo army, Saito Shizane, led his army to force the Mimikawa River and fought fiercely with the Shimazu army, but was attacked from three sides by Shimazu Yoshihiro, Yoshihisa and the Iehisa army from Takagi, and finally lost.

Saito Shizane, Tanaki Shizune, Saeki Korekuni, Kakukuma Ishimune and others died in battle one after another. The rear team of the Otomo army was in chaos after hearing the news. At this time, it rained heavily for several days and many Otomo soldiers were drowned. The Otomo army collapsed, with more than 4,000 deaths, while the Shimazu army only had about 1,000 deaths.

The main force was defeated, and the Otomo family suffered a devastating blow. Naturally, they could only choose to flee. Since then, the Otomo family has declined and no longer has the ability to compete for the position of the overlord of Kyushu Island.

It was precisely because the Shimazu family won and their power grew that the Jinyiwei spies sent by the Ming Dynasty became more nervous, fearing that they would use the power of victory to attack the Ryukyu Kingdom.

"Does the Shimazu family have the strength to annex the Ryukyu?"

Wei Guangde frowned slightly. After reading the intelligence, he naturally knew the concerns of the other party, so he asked Liu Shouyou.

"Wei Gelao, as far as I know, if the Shimazu family really wants to, they will not encounter too much resistance to occupying the Ryukyu."

Liu Shouyou naturally told Wei Guangde everything he knew when he asked.

The intelligence only wrote about what happened recently on Kyushu Island, and there was no detailed record of Ryukyu and the major forces on Kyushu Island.

But Liu Shouyou still knew it. After all, wasn't it to collect intelligence from all parties that these people were sent out?

"The Shimazu family was the weakest on Kyushu before, but they could recruit 40,000 to 50,000 troops.

On the other hand, according to intelligence, the Ryukyu Kingdom's king can only command more than a thousand people, and there are another two or three thousand people who obey the local Ansi.

By the way, according to the estimates of the people sent there, the total population of the entire Ryukyu may be around 100,000. Even if they mobilized with all their strength, it is estimated that only 20,000 troops can be recruited.

No matter how you look at it, Ryukyu has no chance of winning against the Shimazu family."

Liu Shouyou briefly told Wei Guangde what he knew, and at the end he also popularized the history of Ryukyu to Wei Guangde.

People in later generations often regarded Ryukyu as a country. In fact, there were three Ryukyu kings who paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, which is the so-called "Three Mountain Kingdoms".

Ryukyu Island was originally governed by local nobles, that is, Ansi, a kind of people similar to chieftains.

In the history of Ryukyu, these Ansi also fought and merged with each other, and gradually formed three major forces, namely the King of Beishan, the King of Zhongshan and the King of Nanshan, which are the three most powerful Ansi.

Each of the three kings of the three mountains led a number of subordinate Ansi under their command. These Ansi controlled their own armies in the territories under their jurisdiction and were not controlled by the kings of the three mountains.

In 1372, led by King Satto of Zhongshan, the three kings paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

Because the tribute trade with the Ming Dynasty could bring huge profits, the three mountain kingdoms had more intense wars around foreign trade.

Shang Bashi, who was originally the Ansi of Sashiki of the Nanshan Kingdom, and his father Shang Sishao, destroyed the Zhongshan Kingdom in 1406, the Kitayama Kingdom in 1416, and finally the original suzerain Nanshan Kingdom in 1429, and unified the main island of Ryukyu.

Although his title was still "King of Zhongshan" when he accepted the title of the Ming Dynasty, the unified regime he established was also called the "Ryukyu Kingdom" in history, and the dynasty he founded was called the "First Shang Dynasty".

In fact, up to this time, there are still fifteen major forces on the Ryukyu Island, including the King of Ryukyu.

With such dispersed forces, the King of Ryukyu had no way of gathering the entire kingdom to fight against the Shimazu family of Japan.

"Hiss, according to what you said, the current King of Ryukyu usurped the throne?"

Wei Guangde didn't pay attention to the national conditions of Ryukyu at this moment, but was a little surprised that the Ryukyu King got his title by rebellion.

"The court has actually heard about this matter. After all, officials have been sent to Ryukyu many times, so some news will be heard.

However, according to the internal records of Jinyiwei, the late emperor and the cabinet ministers at that time had a secret discussion before, and finally chose to let it go. First, the situation has changed, and the original Ryukyu King family no longer exists.

Second, the current Ryukyu King is still respectful to the Ming Dynasty.

Since there is no victim coming to the door, there is naturally no need to make trouble.

So afterwards, the court still treats Ryukyu with the old attitude and is unwilling to ask about other things."

Liu Shouyou told Wei Guangde another piece of news. After all, some things can be concealed for a while, but not for a lifetime.

It just depends on whether others care about it and whether they have any ideas about it.

"Wei Gelao, the task you assigned before may not be completed."

At this time, Liu Shouyou suddenly said again.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde frowned slightly.

Of course, he knew what Liu Shouyou was talking about. He wanted to maintain the "Warring States" situation in Japan.

Wei Guangde knew that after Oda Nobunaga, it was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and then Tokugawa Ieyasu, but he only had a vague understanding of the experiences in between.

However, according to the intelligence about Japan, there were more than a dozen powerful daimyo in the country, so Wei Guangde felt that there was an opportunity.

So, the Jinyiwei spies were arranged to sneak into Japan through Ryukyu. The purpose was naturally to provoke their internal fighting, unite more daimyo and fight against Oda clan, and weaken them.

But now Liu Shouyou said that the mission might not be completed. Wouldn't it surprise Wei Guangde?

"Reason?"

Wei Guangde asked lightly.

"Although there are still several powerful daimyos in Japan, they have all been frightened by the Oda clan.

After the defeat of the Takeda army, other daimyos tried their best to avoid going to war with the Oda clan. No matter how our people lobbied, they could not get any results.

On the contrary, they chose to meet all their demands on the Oda clan, even if they were very rude and excessive.

In this year, the Oda clan has been expanding its territory for various reasons."

Liu Shouyou whispered, "They dare not go against the Oda clan, but they fight each other fiercely, perhaps preparing to resist the Oda clan.

At least that's what our people heard from them."

"Because they were afraid of Oda Nobunaga, they took action against other daimyos, calling it preparation for expansion of power"

Wei Guangde couldn't say anything more and could only shake his head gently.

Wei Guangde was actually not interested in whether Oda Nobunaga died because of Akechi Mitsuhide or the Japanese emperor. He just wanted the fighting in Japan to be as intense as possible and the more people died, the better.

The Ming Dynasty has no way to influence Japan, which is still relatively independent and closed.

"Well, since they can't unite to fight against Oda Nobunaga, then letting those daimyo fight among themselves will have the same effect, and they will all die as Japanese people anyway."

Wei Guangde immediately adjusted his thinking and spoke to Liu Shouyou. (End of this chapter)