At this time, Li Xianzhong dressed up as a businessman and, accompanied by Zheng Zhilong, visited the market near Naha Port.
Li Xianzhong originally thought that Ryukyu was just a barbaric land. Even though some businessmen were stationed due to its geographical location, it was nothing more than a lively transit station.
I didn’t expect the market in Naha to be so prosperous?
There is a wide variety of products on display, including not only Japanese swords and lacquerware, but also Southeast Asian peppers, spices, and corals. pearl.
There are even silks, cloths, porcelain, and tea from the Ming Dynasty.
To be honest, Yingkou Gang and Incheon Port under my rule are much worse than here.
Zheng Zhilong said with a smile: "The geographical location of Ryukyu is certainly important. It is the link between Japan and Southeast Asia. It is known as the 'bridge of all nations'!"
"But it is possible to achieve its current prosperity thanks to the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban."
"After the Ming Dynasty banned the sea, traditional exports of silk, porcelain, and tea were greatly restricted. Ming merchants' formal export channels were strangled and they could only rely on smuggling trade."
"But the demand for these things from various countries has not decreased. Therefore, whether it is the Ryukyus, the Dutch, or the Portuguese, they have become middlemen."
"They buy these products from Ming Dynasty and resell them to other countries."
"These Western feudal lords and Ryukyu people have made huge amounts of money away, but I, the businessmen of the Ming Dynasty, have no choice but to secretly engage in smuggling at the risk of beheading!"
When Zheng Zhilong said this, his eyes were full of resentment!
Li Xianzhong said: "The Portuguese occupy Macau, and they must be able to smuggle goods from the Ming Dynasty from there; the Dutch and Spanish should be able to purchase goods from Fujian Yuegang. But how did the Ryukyu people engage in transit trade?"
Zheng Zhilong said: "The imperial court's trade in Yuegang was originally aimed at the Netherlands and Spain, but after Spain massacred our Chinese people in Manila in the 33rd year of Wanli, the imperial court banned the Spanish's qualifications to do business in Yuegang!"
"The Netherlands relied on its powerful armed merchant ships to continuously intercept and kill Portuguese merchant ships going to Japan in the waters near Japan. Now the Dutch have almost monopolized the re-export trade from the Ming Dynasty to Japan."
"As for Ryukyu, they mixed a large amount of goods in the tribute fleet and sold them to the Ming Dynasty in the name of tribute."
"Officials in Guangdong can tax the Ryukyu people, but they simply turn a blind eye. In fact, it is not just Ryukyu. Other vassal countries will bring a large amount of goods with them when they pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty to make huge profits!"
"The purchase price of a pound of ambergris in Nanyang is less than 10 taels of silver. During the Jiajing period, when it was most expensive, it could be sold for 1,200 taels. With such a huge profit of a hundred times, how can Ryukyu not be rich?"
"They resold silk from the Ming Dynasty to other places for at least six or seven times the profit."
As a keyboard warrior, Li Xianzhong certainly knew that sea trade was hugely profitable, but he never imagined that these spices could be a hundred times more profitable.
Although the price Zheng Zhilong mentioned may be just the extreme price, even if it is only half, this huge profit is too exaggerated.
Originally, he thought that the "heaven and earth" he engaged in was huge profits, and that he was a black-hearted businessman by reselling grain in Liaodong.
Compared with these maritime merchants, I am simply doing charity!
It seems that this time I chose to come and take a look. Indeed, sometimes it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books!
Living in Liaodong feels like working behind closed doors.
Today's Zheng Zhilong is probably several years younger than himself, but he is already familiar with the trade routes of Manila, Macau, Ryukyu, and Japan, and has also learned Lusitan and Portuguese.
Looking at Li Xianzhong who was thoughtful, Zheng Zhilong suddenly clasped his fists and said: "Now that the imperial court has banned the sea, our Ming merchants have no choice but to flee overseas in order to do business, and were massacred by foreigners."
"If Uncle Ning Yuan can capture Ryukyu, please be sure to allow merchants from the Ming Dynasty to stay in Ryukyu for maritime trade. With the intelligence and diligence of our Ming people, we will definitely be able to accumulate a lot of wealth for my uncle."
Li Xianzhong said: "My uncle can't influence the imperial court's policy of banning the sea for the time being, but you should have heard that under my uncle's rule, both Liaodong and North Korea, the sea routes are smooth, and the trade routes are naturally monopolized by my merchants from the Ming Dynasty. .”
"The Spanish Galen ships you see were bought from the Portuguese. The larger and more advanced warships will be launched in 2 months. It won't be long before our maritime power surpasses the Dutch. "
"Uncle Ben not only wants to open trade routes in Ryukyu, but also expand the living space overseas for my people of the Ming Dynasty."
Although Zheng Zhilong at this time had already gone to Nanyang to do business and gained some experience, he was still not the maritime overlord who controlled the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty in later generations.
Li Xianzhong's painting of cakes is quite effective.
Zheng Zhilong was even more surprised after hearing that the Ming army could build such a large Galenic sailing ship by itself.
He said excitedly: "This is really good news for the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty. Although the court banned the sea, there are still many businessmen who own industries in Japan and Southeast Asia. There are some Fujian businessmen in Ryukyu, and I believe they will definitely support Ningyuan. Uncle."
At this time, many people gathered around the stalls at Naha Market.
I saw a few Japanese ronin with their hair shaved into a half-moon shape and pigtails holding two porcelains with damaged bottle mouths and said: "You Ming Dynasty businessmen actually sold these defective porcelains to us, passing them off as good ones!"
Huang Cheng picked up a bottle, looked at the model underneath, and said, "This bottle of yours comes from the kiln in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi. Our batch of goods are from the kiln in Pinglupu. They are not fired in the same place. How can you be so embarrassed?" Come and cause trouble!"
So with a wink, the Ming army beside Huang Cheng hurried up to drive away the troublemaking Japanese ronin.
A group of people quickly took action. The Ming army was all big men from Liaodong, two heads taller than those Japanese ronin.
In a short time, these Japanese ronin were beaten until their noses were black and their eyes were swollen.
Huang Cheng knew that these people came here deliberately to cause trouble, and the matter was definitely not that simple, so he quickly asked people to close the stall and prepare to withdraw to the ship.
Sure enough, not long after, a group of Ryukyu soldiers blocked their way, saying that they had innocently hurt others and caused trouble and needed compensation.
Just as Huang Cheng was about to explain, Li Xianzhong said from a distance: "If you hit someone, you should pay compensation. Isn't it just money? We will pay!"
After discussing with the Japanese ronin, Ryukyu officials raised a finger towards Huang Cheng!
Huang Cheng thought it was a hundred taels, but several Japanese ronin laughed and said: "I have to compensate them with a shipment of goods, otherwise this matter will never let go!"
In order to attract businessmen, Ryukyu's tax rate is not high, it is just one out of ten products.
These short guys actually asked for a shipment of goods. Huang Cheng refused on the spot and said: "You might as well grab it openly!"
I saw the leader of the Japanese Ronin saying: "My name is Shimazu Genzo, and I am a member of the Shimazu family. This beating cannot be in vain. If you don't compensate me for a shipment of goods, then don't blame me for being rude!"
The surrounding businessmen were also talking a lot: This is almost an open robbery!
However, the Satsuma clan was not a businessman in Ryukyu, even the King of Ryukyu, they would definitely grab it!
Judging from the boats Huang Cheng rented and the servants around him, this Ming businessman was not easy to mess with. This was a fight between gods and small businessmen like them naturally did not dare to interrupt!
At this time, a businessman said: "The accent sounds like Shopkeeper Huang is also from southern Fujian. Li Fu is from the same hometown as you. The power of the Satsuma clan in Ryukyu is very important. There is a saying that a strong dragon will not overwhelm local snakes. I advise you to take a step back and take a boat. It is true that the loss of goods is not small, but you still gained a lot from this trip to sea, which is much better than losing people and money!"
Li Xianzhong said: "Isn't it just one ship of goods? This time we brought 7 ships of goods, and almost half of them were sold. You can choose one of the three big ships!"
"Bring people to the ship to move it yourself, otherwise you will be told that we didn't move the goods cleanly!"
Shimazu Genzo was actually just a samurai. When he heard that these Akito had compromised, he quickly sent someone to inform his family leader, Shimazu Mitsuyoshi.
At this time, Shimazu Mitsuyoshi was drinking tea with the same monk Kikuyaku. When he heard that these Akito compromised, he felt a little surprised.
The reason why Shimazu Mitsuyoshi did this was, on the one hand, to find an excuse for the robbery.
After all, this place is still the territory of Ryukyu in name. If he directly kills people and sells goods, he may scare these businessmen away and affect his income.
The more important thing is to test the attitude of these Ming businessmen to judge their strength.
These Ming merchants said they were merchants, but in fact they were armed smugglers, not much different from pirates.
Although these Galen ships were merchant ships, they were still equipped with artillery.
If these businessmen have a tough attitude, he may have to mobilize more people to come to Naha.
Kikuyin said: "Shimazu-kun, these Ming Dynasty businessmen are very aware of current affairs. It seems that their strength is not very strong."
Shimazu Mitsuyoshi snorted coldly and said: "These Akito are still so timid and afraid of trouble. These big ships are exactly what I dream of. Since they take the initiative to send them to my door, how can I miss them?"
Then he said to his subordinates: "You take two hundred people to move the goods first, let these Ming people relax their vigilance, and wait until night to raid their merchant ships. I want both the ship and the goods!"
Soon Shimazu Genzo led a group of samurai aboard a Galenic sailing ship.
Zheng Zhilong said with a smile: "The goods are in the cabin, you go and move them!"
Shimazu Genzo was very proud to see these Ming businessmen surrendering, and walked into the cabin humming a tune.
Suddenly all I heard was "bang, bang, bang"
The Ming army started shooting at the Japanese soldiers on the deck from the poop and forecastle.
These Japanese soldiers were completely unprepared. After a while, dozens of Japanese soldiers were all knocked down by Rumi's cannons.
The Japanese pirates on the trestle saw the Ming army's sneak attack and cursed: "Bagya Road!"
They all took out Japanese swords and spears in their hands and rushed towards the ship.
This scene directly stunned the melon-eating merchants on the side!
These Ming people were really not easy to mess with. I originally thought they were compromising with the Shimazu family, but I didn't expect that they had directly set a trap. The Japanese soldiers on the ship were already dead at this moment.
The Japanese pirates on the trestle were not much better. Zheng Zhilong directly ordered the gangplank to be removed.
Those Japanese soldiers couldn't get on the boat at all, and they were taken care of by the Ming army's Lumi gun within a short time.
After the news came back that the Japanese soldiers were ambushed by Akito, Shimazu Mitsuyoshi was absolutely furious.
Juyin said: "These Ming people are really cunning. Our plan now is to prevent them from escaping."
Shimazu Mitsuyoshi said: "I have ordered the Anzha ship to block the channel outside the dock. If they escape, use fire attack immediately."
Once the Ming army's large ship sails away from Naha Port, they will definitely not be able to catch up.
However, as long as these Ming people's ships are still in the harbor, Shimazu Mitsuyoshi will never use fire attacks. Both the ships and the cargo are priceless treasures, so he is reluctant to burn them.
It seems that these Ming people are fighting hard. There were originally 1,200 people gathered near Naha, and there are still 1,000 people, but these troops may not be enough to capture them.
So Shimazu Mitsuyoshi quickly ordered to mobilize another thousand people from Amami Oshima.
Then he ordered 500 iron gunners to blockade the outside of Naha Port to prevent these Akito from escaping to other parts of the island.
Japanese iron cannons, like Ming Dynasty's blunderbuss, are products that imitate European matchlock guns.
However, it has to be said that the performance of Japanese iron cannons is far better than that of Ming Dynasty's blunderbuss.
Putting aside their attributes, Japanese iron cannons rarely explode.
On the one hand, this is because their craftsmen dare not cut corners, and on the other hand, the iron ore in Ming Dynasty is not as good as that in Japan.
Japanese iron ore contains less impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus, so the quality of iron cannons is good.
The quality of Daming's iron ore itself is not high, the content of these impurities is high, and the dephosphorization technology is not up to standard, which naturally makes the blunderbuss more likely to explode.
When fighting against Japan and aiding Korea, it can be said that Japan's iron cannons will completely defeat the Ming Dynasty's cannons.
However, the various artillery of the Ming army severely damaged these Japanese pirates. Generally speaking, both sides have their own merits in terms of firearms.
Based on this, these Japanese soldiers confidently exposed themselves eighty steps away from Naha Port.
Because they knew that the Ming army's cannons would never be able to hit such a distance.
But they were soon slapped in the face. As the white fog on the ship continued to rise, more and more iron gunners were shot and killed by the Ming army.
Finally, after paying the price of more than 100 people, they retreated hastily.
Off the coast of Amami Oshima, Deng Gang was leading three warships to cruise continuously.
In order to confuse their opponents, they have changed to the Portuguese flag at this time. After all, the warship is still easy to be discovered, so that they will not expose themselves in advance.
At this time, more than thirty Japanese pirate ships appeared in front of us.
Soon Deng Gang ordered the three warships to sail towards the Japanese ship with all their strength.
The Kaiyuan is equipped with 48 12-pound Hongyi cannons, and even the smaller Tieling has 36 rapid-fire 6-pound Franco machine guns and 8 12-pound Hongyi cannons.
In just the first salvo, three Japanese ships were destroyed by Ming army artillery.
Although these Japanese soldiers of the Satsuma Domain did not know why the Portuguese attacked them?
But instinct still drove them to quickly leave the battlefield.
However, the speed of the Anzha ship is not at the same level as that of the large Galen sailing ship.
Soon Deng Gang ordered three warships of the Liaodong Navy to pursue separately.
In the end, after half an hour of fierce fighting, only 5 Japanese ships escaped!
For those Japanese pirates struggling on the sea holding broken wooden boards, the Ming army directly shot them with Lumi guns.
Soon after, the warships of the Liaodong Navy sailed into Naha Port, and the Ming army's terrifying artillery fire quickly sank the Anzhai ships that tried to attack with fire.
In this way, although part of the waterway is blocked, at least the Japanese pirates cannot use these ships to set fire.
At this time, Shimazu Mitsuyoshi was leading the remaining eight or nine hundred Japanese soldiers stationed in a fortress near Naha Port.
He didn't wait for reinforcements, but he did wait for the Ming army's naval guns.
This stone fortress soon became fragmented under the attack of Kaiyuan's 48 12-pound red cannons.
Helplessly, Shimazu Mitsuyoshi had to lead more than 500 remaining Japanese pirates to continue retreating inland.
At this time, the Ming army on the ship had already formed a formation to meet the enemy.
Shimazu Mitsuyoshi, who was mentally shattered by the Ming army's artillery and fire guns, saw that he finally had a chance to fight the Ming army. He quickly pulled out his Japanese sword and led the Japanese soldiers to charge against the Ming army.
The 1,500 Ming army had already completed their formation at this moment.
700 spearmen and 800 gunmen!
"Bang, bang, bang"
With the firing of Rumi's cannon, more than two hundred Japanese soldiers fell directly on the path of the charge.
At this time, Geng Zhongming also raised his sword and led 700 spearmen to kill the Japanese pirates directly.
The Japanese soldiers were indeed short in stature and generally less than 1.5 meters tall, but they were well-equipped and most of them were equipped with iron armor such as chainmail.
Fortunately, the Ming army led by Geng Zhongming also wore heavy cloth armor, otherwise they would definitely suffer heavy losses.
Li Xianzhong, who was watching the battle from behind, frowned. The combat power of these Japanese short boys was indeed formidable.
He had been beaten into a loser before, but now faced with a Ming army that was twice his size, he actually managed to survive.
It was obvious that the casualties of the Ming army were greater than those of the Japanese soldiers. In just a short time, seventy or eighty people of the Ming army had been killed, while the casualties of the Japanese pirates were definitely less than fifty.
To be honest, Li Xianzhong hasn't personally gone into battle to kill the enemy for a long time.
But the situation was critical at the moment, and he couldn't care so much.
Shimazu Mitsuyoshi is wearing a red armor and is very conspicuous in the formation.
Li Xianzhong, who was dressed in silver armor, felt the wind at his feet and ran straight towards the enemy general.
The silver gun in his hand was like a silver snake spitting out letters, constantly stabbing the Japanese pirates in front of him. After a while, he directly opened a bloody path in the Japanese pirate formation.
Shimazu Mitsuyoshi was entangled with Geng Zhongming at this time and did not notice Li Xianzhong's appearance at all.
As a result, he was shot through the back of the heart.
The killing of the general led to the Japanese invaders losing all will to fight, and they were quickly annihilated by the Ming army.
When Kikuyin saw that Shimazu Mitsuyoshi had been killed, he led dozens of Japanese soldiers and hid in Shuri Castle 30 miles away.
The Ryukyu Kingdom is not large in area, and Shuri Castle is more of a royal city than the capital.
It is a stone castle, and its interior consists of the main hall, the official office, and the government hall.
Shuri Castle is only for the residence of the King of Ryukyu, and there are no common people in the city.
In the 37th year of Wanli, the Satsuma clan sent troops to defeat Ryukyu. Ryukyu King Shang Ning and more than a hundred monarchs and ministers were also taken captive to Kagoshima.
Two years later, he was received by General Tokugawa Hidenaka in Edo.
Soon after, Shang Ning was forced to sign the "Fifteen Articles" with Satsuma, recognizing Ryukyu as a vassal state of Satsuma, and the monarch and his ministers swore to always be loyal to the Shimazu clan.
Subsequently, Shang Ning and others were released and returned to Ryukyu, and he was forced to appoint Kikuyin (a Japanese monk), the elder of Tennoji Temple, as regent.
In fact, the military and political power of Ryukyu was completely controlled by Kikuyaku.
Facing the Ming army's troops approaching the city, Kikuyin directly escorted Ryukyu King Shang Ning to the city.
An attempt to threaten Li Xianzhong!
But it's a pity that Kikuyin doesn't seem to know the range of Rumi Gun very well.
When he shouted that the Ming army was not allowed to approach, Geng Zhongming blasted his head with a Lumi gun 120 steps away.
Ryukyu King Shang Ning hurriedly asked people to open the city gate to welcome the Ming army into the city.
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(End of chapter)
