After taking Amami Oshima, the Satsuma clan's power in Ryukyu was finally completely eliminated.
But after all, this place has been controlled by the Shimadzu family for ten years, and there are still many Japanese on the island.
The current total population of Amami Oshima is approximately 35,000, of which 4,000 are Japanese on the island.
In the end, Li Xianzhong decided to hand over 500 old and weak people to the local Ryukyu tribe for execution.
Firstly, it makes these Ryukyu people feel bad, and secondly, with the blood of the Shimadzu family on their hands, it will not be easy for them to rebel in the future.
In the early days, the power of the Ryukyu Kingdom was limited to the main island of Ryukyu, and the Amami Islands were conquered later.
During the Ryukyu period, the chiefs on the island often dissatisfied with the management of the Ryukyu king, and could not fully trust these natives.
As for the remaining 3,500 Japanese, they were used as slaves together with the Japanese on Ryukyu Island.
Anyway, Ryukyu Island is full of waste, and the construction of ports, bastions and the planting of sugar cane plantations require a lot of labor.
These Japanese people are not used as free labor.
However, Amami Oshima is relatively close to Kyushu Island.
All these Japanese slaves were taken to the main island of Ryukyu and no longer stayed on Amami Oshima, lest they support the Shimadzu family's counterattack in the future.
As for the Ryukyu people on Amami Island, Li Xianzhong decided to maintain the status quo.
Anyway, taxing them in the name of the King of Ryukyu will definitely be lower than what the Satsuma Domain charges.
The East Ryukyu Company must have taken over all the industries and land occupied by the Japanese on the island.
Of course, under the current circumstances, the exploitation of Ryukyu people should not be too severe, so an employment relationship is still adopted.
These Ryukyu people only need to pay taxes normally. The tax rate will be appropriately reduced by about 30% based on the original Ryukyu country.
After all, driving away the Satsuma clan is a matter worthy of celebration, and these Ryukyu people must really feel the benefits, so that they can wholeheartedly accept the leadership of the new regent Geng Zhongming.
Moreover, Ryukyu mainly develops commerce and collects trade taxes from merchants through customs.
These Ryukyu people don't create much value from farming and fishing, so the land tax they collect is just to ensure enough food rations.
As for specialty products, the most valuable cash crop on the island is currently sugar cane.
Sugar cane was introduced to southern China around the Zhou Dynasty.
By the Ming Dynasty, the "yellow mud water decolorization method" for refining white sugar was very mature.
Use a pulping truck to squeeze the juice from mature sugar cane, put it into a vat, boil it over fire to make a yellow-black syrup, and pour it into another vat to condense into brown sugar.
Use yellow mud water to pour out the brown sugar in the funnel. The black residue flows from the funnel into the tank below, leaving white frost in the funnel. This is the white sugar of the Ming Dynasty.
White sugar is as white as frost, so it is also called "frost sugar".
The method of using yellow mud to absorb impurities and colors in sugar was actually discovered accidentally during the Li Zhi reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. It was only widely used during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, the Ryukyu people on the Ryukyu Island did not master this technology of bleaching sugar at this time. What they produced was still the yellow-black sucrose.
White sugar, which was already quite popular in the Ming Dynasty, is still a rarity in Japan and Korea.
Has a pretty good market.
Of course, the first batch of sugar was not sold, but was shipped to Liaodong as a strategic material.
Li Xianzhong is still looking forward to the effect of mixing sugar with gunpowder.
In addition, Li Xianzhong asked Kong Youde to mobilize half of the lucky ships from the navy stationed in the Ming Dynasty to garrison Ryukyu.
Along with the North Korean navy, 10,000 North Korean workers arrived. Among these North Koreans were shipbuilders, miners, and plasterers who were good at using cement.
In addition to sugar cane, sulfur is also an important mineral.
The outlying islands under the Ryukyu Kingdom are rich in sulfur. Now the sulfur can be self-sufficient, which also saved Li Xianzhong a lot of money.
As an important raw material for gunpowder, it can achieve self-sufficiency and its strategic significance is very important.
It is a pity that the main producing area of saltpeter is not in Liaodong, otherwise the Liaodong Army would be completely self-sufficient in gunpowder.
In general, although Ryukyu is small, its value is still great.
Of course, if you want to develop stably now, you must first completely resolve the threat from the Satsuma Domain.
Zheng Zhilong said: "The Shimazu family's Satsuma clan is currently among the top five powerful clans in Japan, with a total force of 13,000 people. Currently, Shimadzu Iehisa still has 10,000 troops in his hands, and I am afraid he will not give up!"
Li Xianzhong laughed and said: "When our Liaodong Navy arrives in Kagoshima, I'm afraid I will be the one who refuses to give up!"
Just when Li Xianzhong was preparing to lead the fleet north to Kagoshima to force the Satsuma Domain to abandon Ryukyu, they unexpectedly sent an envoy on their own initiative.
The visitor was a Japanese monk. The monk said, "Lao Na Zongwang is the elder of Honganji Temple! I am here to implore you to release a young novice named Huiming."
Li Xianzhong originally thought that the other party came to negotiate, but he didn't expect that he actually came to ask for someone.
So he said: "Master has come from afar. It seems that the identity of this young master Huiming is not simple. I wonder if I can tell you the truth?"
As soon as Li Xianzhong said this, the old monk fell into hesitation.
Not long after, he said: "I wonder if the donor has ever heard of the Dabanxia Formation?"
The Obanxia Battle that took place 6 years ago was the last battle of Japan's Warring States Period.
After this battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu completely eliminated the power of the Toyotomi family, ending Japan's 146-year "Warring States Period."
It is naturally impossible for Li Xianzhong not to know.
He said: "In the previous Oita Winter Battle, the Toyotomi family took Tokugawa Ieyasu's trick and took the initiative to demolish Oita's city defenses and fill in the trenches. This summer battle has already been doomed to failure before it even started."
"Sanada Yukimura's thousands of red troops in this battle still caused a lot of trouble for Tokugawa Ieyasu."
"However, strategic mistakes cannot be made up for by tactics. These cannot change the outcome of the fall of Daban City."
At this time, Zong Wang looked at the Ming general in front of him in surprise. This man seemed to be in his early twenties, but he actually knew so much about the Great Banxia Formation.
Especially the sentence "Strategic mistakes cannot be made up for by tactics." It seems that this person is indeed a master of military use.
Zong Wang said: "Since the donor knows that Sanada survived, it is easy to explain. Huiming is the son of Sanada's general Anesama Kosuke. Anesama Kosuke died in the battle, and Lao Na's junior brother Ju Yin accepted Hui Ming as his disciple. Lao Na heard that Ju Yin died. , so bring Huiming back!"
Li Xianzhong was also a keyboard warrior in his previous life and often visited various forums.
He had also heard about this cave mountain assistant.
He smiled and said: "As far as I know, Anayama Kosuke served as Sanada Yukimura's Kagemusha (i.e. stand-in samurai) in the Osaka Summer Formation. I heard that the two look very similar."
"I wonder if this Keimei is the son of Anayama Kosuke or Sanada Yukimura?"
At this time, Zongwang's heart was extremely shocked. There were probably not many people in Akira who had heard of Sanada Yukimura's name. This person actually knew the details of Anayama Kosuke. Could he be a monster?
But on the surface, he still said calmly: "The donor is really good at joking. Monks don't lie. Huiming is indeed the son of Aneshan Xiaosuke!"
Li Xianzhong said: "It doesn't matter. The Shimazu family was an old minister of Toyotomi, and their power once spread almost all over Kyushu Island. Now that it has been weakened by the Tokugawa family, it is normal to have some resentment. It is not a big deal to take in the remnants of Toyotomi."
"Just bring this Huimei back to Satsuma Domain!"
Zong Wang said: "I thanked the donor!"
However, Li Xianzhong did not let Zong Wang go back, but invited them to his flagship Kaiyuan account.
When passing a desert island, Li Xianzhong specially ordered Kaiyuan to fire a volley.
Looking at the deserted island full of mess, Zong Wang fell into deep thought. They simply could not withstand the firepower of the Ming army. Not only the Satsuma clan could not withstand it, but even the Tokugawa family could not withstand it.
A few days later, the Liaodong Navy entered Kagoshima Bay southwest of Kyushu Island. Several Anzha ships that tried to come up to stop the Ming army were quickly sunk.
After that, the Ming Navy sailed to Kagoshima in a swaggering manner. Although Kagoshima also installed a few native cannons, how could it be the opponent of the Ming Navy's naval guns?
Zong Wang quickly said: "Donor, please calm down, I will persuade the family leader to give up Ryukyu!"
Soon the Shimazu family brought the agreement signed by the King of Ryukyu and stated that they would give up the vassal relationship of Ryukyu.
However, Li Xianzhong did not ask for compensation from them, but asked Zheng Zhilong to conduct trade negotiations with Satsuma Domain as the representative of the East Ryukyu Company.
Although Japan currently only has one port, Nagasaki, open to the outside world, they are actually still eager to start trade with the Ming Dynasty.
The Tokugawa shogunate sent envoys three times to ask the Ming Dynasty to allow the opening of trade with Japan, but the Ming Dynasty refused without exception.
Li Xianzhong's willingness to trade with Satsuma Domain undoubtedly gave them a favor.
He also did not want to weaken the Satsuma Domain too much, otherwise it would help the Tokugawa Shogunate strengthen its rule.
Although he is currently unable to intervene in Japan, he must find a way to add some obstruction to the Tokugawa shogunate.
Li Xianzhong can enhance the strength of some famous names through targeted trade.
The Satsuma Domain could quickly accumulate wealth and expand its own strength through trade with the East Ryukyu Company.
Originally, Li Xianzhong was planning to go to the "Changshu Domain" in the west of Honshu Island. After all, the largest silver mine, "Iwami Ginzan", was there.
But suddenly I received news that something big happened in North Korea.
On August 13, Daishan, who had been resting for more than half a year, finally couldn't bear his loneliness and launched an attack on North Korea.
Zhenghongqi suddenly attacked Fengshan Tonggushan and other places in Huanghaido.
The Ming troops stationed in the DPRK defended the city and did not allow the Tatars to break through to the hinterland of Huanghai Road.
But on the other side, the North Korean army in Gangwon Province was defeated under the attack of the red flag.
In just a few days, Tongchuan, Huaiyang, Jinhua and other places were lost one after another, and the five thousand North Korean defenders either died or surrendered.
The red flag followed the Gyeonggi Road and rushed directly to Wangjing Hanyang in North Korea.
At this time, the 500 Ming troops stationed outside Hanyang City, the capital of Joseon, rushed to help defend Bukhan Mountain City, which has the most dangerous terrain to the north of Hanyang!
With the help of the Ming army, the Korean army finally defended Bukhan Mountain City.
But at this time, harassment occurred in Hanyang City!
Originally, many North Korean ministers had criticized the Ming army stationed in North Korea, believing that the Ming army deliberately did not attack Pyongyang and only wanted to dominate North Korea.
In particular, the North Korean leader Jin Zidian colluded with the Ming army to sell refined salt and engage in smuggling, which seriously damaged their interests.
Jin Yao and other Western Party figures who had been suppressed by Jin Zidian before were also ready to take action at this time.
They used this Tatar invasion to make a big fuss, publicizing Jin Zidian's incompetence everywhere, and successfully instigated several generals of the Imperial Guard.
Originally, there were Ming troops stationed outside the city, and they were still somewhat cautious about it, but at this time, the Ming troops happened to be heading north, giving them an opportunity to take advantage of.
Taking advantage of the fact that the main force of Jin Zidian's cronies were transferred outside the city to resist the Tatars, Jin Yu and others took the opportunity to mobilize troops and surrounded Jin Zidian's mansion.
He also wrote to the King of North Korea, Li Ju, requesting the removal of Jin Zidian, the leader of the political council.
Li Zhu also knew that the North Korean people were very dissatisfied with the current situation. If he did not sacrifice Jin Zidian at this time, he would probably become the target of the officials and the people to vent.
The dead Taoist friend is not the poor Taoist, and the North Korean king Li Zhu had no choice but to sacrifice Jin Zidian at this time.
In this way, Jin Zidian was dismissed from his post by King Li Zhu of North Korea!
However, Jin Yao and others were not stupid. They knew that Jin Zidian's backstage was not only Li Zhu, but also Li Xianzhong, the governor of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, they always believed that when the Ming Dynasty stationed troops in North Korea, North Korea should not pay for military salaries and armaments. At most, it would be enough to provide the Ming army with some food and grass.
They originally used the political slogan of opposing North Korea's support of Ming troops stationed in North Korea, and they naturally resolutely implemented this policy after coming to power.
Originally, the Ming army controlled the coast of Korea, and it was difficult for them to send envoys to the Ming capital.
But at this time, half of the warships of the Ming army stationed in Korea were transferred to Ryukyu, and most of the other half were transferred to the coast of the Yalu River to prevent the Tatars from crossing the river.
Jin Yao decisively sent a mission to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
When Kong Youde got the news, the North Korean mission had already set off for a long time, and there were no warships near Incheon at this time. He had to watch the North Korean mission go to the capital.
Kong Youde knew that the consequences of this matter were very serious. Once the court knew about the situation in North Korea, it would definitely cause big trouble for Ning Yuanbo.
He had no choice but to put pressure on the North Korean king Li Zhu as a representative of the Ming army stationed in Korea to ensure Jin Zidian's personal safety; he quickly sent a letter to the capital and Liuqiu to inform Mao Yuanyi and Li Xianzhong of the matter.
After receiving the news, Li Xianzhong decided to return on the fastest Kaiyuan, leaving the other ships in Ryukyu temporarily.
Fortunately, the country had reconciled with the Satsuma Domain at this time, and there were no major problems in Ryukyu for the time being.
Zheng Zhilong can handle trade matters by himself.
Deng Gang said: "Uncle Ning Yuan, don't worry, it's not far from Incheon. It takes about three days to get there."
Li Xianzhong shook his head and said: "We are not going to North Korea and will return directly to Yingkou."
Although it is not known whether Mao Yuanyi and Wei Zhongxian can suppress the influence of the North Korean envoys, the Donglin Party will definitely not miss this opportunity to deal with themselves.
At this time, he must be in Liaodong. If someone in the imperial court causes trouble, he can send troops to deal with it in time.
These damn sticks actually did this to themselves.
This Kong Youde is still not ruthless enough. If it were him, he would definitely assassinate these ministers who made the coup as soon as possible, and then rescue Jin Zidian.
As soon as Jin Zidian came to power, he immediately sent a second batch of envoys to the Ming Dynasty to recover the first batch of envoys.
Now he sent someone to inform him that he had been delayed for nearly ten days along the way. I am afraid that the capital has already been in turmoil by this time!
The sudden visit of the North Korean mission still attracted the attention of Han Xu, the Minister of Rites.
Because according to the usual practice, the mission should be notified in advance before its arrival, so that officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple can make arrangements to welcome them.
This time the North Korean mission arrived quite unexpectedly.
Soon Han Xu personally met with Song Wenqian, the North Korean envoy Li Cao and his judge.
After Song Wenqian saw Han Xu, he immediately started his performance. He said with tears in his eyes: "The Ming troops stationed in Korea have been stationed in Korea for more than a year, and the expenses are huge. Korea can no longer support it. Please also ask the Celestial Empire to be considerate of the vassal states and exempt North Korea from any restrictions on the garrison." Expenses for the Ming Dynasty Army."
Han Xu said: "This is strange. A few months ago, the Ming Dynasty increased the number of Ming troops stationed in Korea at the request of the King of Korea. Why are you saying now that you can't afford the cost?"
Song Wenqian quickly dismissed the blame and said: "Originally, I wanted to stop the Tatars from invading North Korea, but I didn't expect that the number of Ming troops increased, and the Tatars instead attacked near Wangjing."
Then he added: "The Ming army only focused on smuggling and selling salt in North Korea and had no intention of attacking the Tatars. Otherwise, it would not have been more than a year since they had not recovered Pyongyang."
This amount of information is indeed not small, but Han Xu did not express his position in time. He just asked the North Korean envoy to wait with peace of mind. The cabinet still needs to discuss this matter.
When the news of Han Xu was brought back to the cabinet, the cabinet was also extremely shocked.
Soon the Chief Assistant Ye Xianggao convened an enlarged cabinet meeting. In addition to the seven cabinet ministers, he also brought officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Inspectorate.
Xiong Tingbi, Secretary of the Ministry of War, first said: "The affairs of the Ming army stationed in Korea are the rules set by the late emperor. The Ming Dynasty protects the territory for North Korea, and North Korea raises troops for the Ming Dynasty. There are now eight thousand Ming troops stationed in North Korea. If the North Korean supply is rashly cancelled, we will launch our own Providing food, fodder and military equipment is a huge expense, and I think this is absolutely unacceptable!"
Li Ruhua, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, quickly echoed: "Now I heard that the Tatars are raising troops to invade North Korea. Maybe North Korea will increase its troops. There was a severe drought last year and taxes were reduced or reduced in many places. Now it is impossible for the Ministry of Household Affairs to come up with money." Come support North Korea!”
At this time, Ye Xianggao glanced at Xiong Tingbi rather resentfully, thinking that this "Xiong Manzi" really knows how to set the pace. Is the core of this matter the cancellation of North Korea's supplies to the Ming army stationed in North Korea?
This was clearly due to Li Xianzhong, the Ming Governor-General in Korea, who mismanaged the Ming troops stationed in Korea, which caused the vassal states to cry out.
This is a good opportunity to weaken Li Xianzhong's military power. If his Liaodong strategy cannot be affected for the time being, why can't he also affect his North Korean governor?
Ye Xianggao said: "It will definitely not work to cancel North Korea's supply to the Ming army stationed in North Korea and increase the burden on the court. Now the Ministry of Revenue cannot come up with additional money."
"I think the reason why the King of Korea sent an envoy to get angry was mainly because of the lack of control of the Ming army stationed in Korea. They are also involved in smuggling and selling salt. This is definitely not allowed!"
"Ning Yuanbo Li Xianzhong, as the Liaodong manager, is already busy with affairs. It is inevitable that there are things he cannot handle in the management of the Ming army stationed in Korea! I think it is better to replace the new governor of Korea. This will also give an explanation to the vassal state of Korea. Now, presumably the King of Joseon will no longer be obsessed with funding the Ming army stationed in Korea."
Li Xianzhong's use of Ming troops stationed in the DPRK for smuggling was almost a semi-open secret in the DPRK. But no one can go to North Korea to catch him.
North Korea's profits are not small. If the governor is changed, he might be able to get a share of the profits.
Therefore, regardless of whether it is the Donglin Party or not, almost everyone agrees to replace the North Korean Governor!
Everyone agreed with Ye Xianggao's opinion.
Seeing this, Xiong Tingbi could only agree.
Soon the cabinet's vote on replacing the Governor of North Korea was sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies!
Thank you to all book friends for your support with monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and follow-up subscriptions!
Thanks to book friends "878231.qdcn", "Signature Clay Pot Rice", "Qingzi Book", "Arrogant ()", "Red Bazooka", "Scarfaced Man", "20221101101049265", "Richardlg", "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" 1234", "qwadadaed", "Even if that's me", monthly ticket support.
(End of chapter)
