The founding of Ryukyu relied on foreign aid from the Ming Dynasty. In 1372, the Ming government formally established contact with Ryukyu and established a tributary relationship. Ryukyu officially became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
Later, in 1392, Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, saw that it was extremely difficult for the Ryukyu envoys to come to China, so he specially granted the land of Fujian to thirty-six families who were good at shipbuilding and navigation in Fujian Province. The whole family moved to Ryukyu, including Jin Changsen and Lin Yuanmiao, including Cai Mao. His ancestors came from Fujian in the Ming Dynasty.
It was precisely because of the Ming Dynasty's full support for Ryukyu's economy, culture, and technology that the Ryukyu Kingdom quickly entered the only golden age in history.
For more than 150 years after 1400, Ryukyu began to do business with East Asian countries with its advanced navigation technology. Due to Ryukyu's rich specialties, especially sugar products, which were extremely profitable, Ryukyu enjoyed more than 150 golden age of years.
The Ryukyu people, who drink water and remember their origins, began to learn from the Ming Dynasty, and copied everything from politics, economy, culture and even clothing. Even though the Japanese colonized Ryukyu for more than two hundred years, the powerful cultural influence of the Central Plains has not weakened. , but it is getting stronger and stronger.
Today's signing ceremony was indescribably dreamlike in the eyes of mainland visitors like Fan Yan. The Ryukyu monarchs and ministers were all dressed in Ming Dynasty uniforms. King Shangtai even wore a crown given by the Ming Dynasty. The entire venue was like the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. ah.
King Shangtai secretly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. He had never felt that braids were ugly before, but today after seeing Ming Dynasty clothes, he suddenly felt sad and couldn't hold back his tears.
Gong Cheng, who was standing next to Fan Yan, had venomous eyes. He guessed what Fan Yan was thinking at a glance. He sneered twice and whispered, "These are the clothes of the motherland. I didn't expect that the old shopkeeper also cares about the former government. I'll give it to you." Tell me a story..."
"At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty's settlement in the Central Plains, during the reign of Emperor Shunzhi, including the years when Kangxi was young, the Ming vassal states were afraid of the Qing's military might and came to the capital to pay tribute, hoping that the Qing Dynasty could continue the Ming Dynasty's past policies towards them..."
"At that time, when the envoys from North Korea, Ryukyu, and Annan Kingdom appeared in the capital, all the old people stood on the street corner and secretly wiped their tears. They looked at the clothes of their motherland and were filled with grief but could do nothing..."
Gong Cheng's eyes flickered like a cat playing with a mouse. He didn't care about Fan Yan's feelings and said, "But time is a butcher's knife. When Kangxi celebrated his birthday in his later years, all nations came to Korea. At that time, North Korea, Ryukyu , Annan and other countries still wear the same Ming Dynasty clothes, but in exchange they get strange looks and pointing fingers from the people in the capital..."
"In just a few decades, the Han people have already forgotten their ancestors. They think that not having pigtails is treason. They think that calling yourself a slave is only natural. It is better to kowtow and kill a thousand people than to bow down and salute. If you can raise a flag and change your coat, Given their status, these Han people will probably have to hold a banquet for three days in a row..."
"Isn't Xiao Letian talking about the country and the nation? Haha... Why are you protecting such a mean nation? Let me tell you, the luck of the Han people has been used up long ago. It has been thousands of years. Always want to be on top."
"Now if we send these Ryukyu monarchs and ministers to Sijiucheng, people all over the city will probably look at them like monkey tricks. What do you mean by strange clothes? This is strange clothes. What is orthodox? The money rat tail is orthodox... "
"That's enough." Fan Yan growled angrily, "Shut your stinky mouth, you deserve to be Han, you deserve to be Chinese, you, you, you..." The old shopkeeper was so angry that he couldn't speak.
The surrounding Ryukyu ministers all heard Gong Banlun's words, but this time they attacked Han people instead of Ryukyu people, and those present were too lazy to answer the words.
The French are quickly approaching the dock on the sea. Who has time to deal with the bickering between the two old men now? Even King Shang Tai doesn't understand why Gong Cheng went out of his way to provoke Fan Qian at this juncture. Isn't he afraid that Fan Qian will regret it?
This is Gong Banlun's brilliance. The landing of the French army is a process of getting closer to King Shangtai. The closer they get to the Ryukyu monarchs, the pressure on these people will become greater and greater. God knows whether King Shangtai will be so scared that he regrets and flees back. Go to the inner city, if that happens, all the plans will be ruined.
Because of this, Gong Cheng's gag was needed to distract everyone's attention, so that these lambs to be slaughtered should not be too nervous before dying, but relax and continue to relax.
"Old shopkeeper, look at you, why are you so angry... You are thinking about the Han people in the world, but are the Han people in the world thinking about you? You are thinking about the mother country, but where is the mother country?"
"Don't stare. I'll tell you the truth and you'll understand... In the year before last, when Chang Mao was repelled, many counties in the south returned to the control of the Qing court. The county magistrate sent But there were a lot of jokes.”
"Among them is the one who is stupid because of his studies. He insists on becoming an upright official in the land of plenty. Hahaha, I laugh to death. He still wants to be an upright official. But that kid's father and mother together with his seven aunts and eight aunts beat him up. He scolded him so much that his wife looked down on him every day, and even his concubine wouldn't let him go to bed..."
"What happened in the end? Didn't I just listen to the advice of my masters and circle the unowned land again and again, and drive out the owners again and again, and now I have half the county's reputation... "
"Hahaha, have you seen it? This is the country that Prime Minister Xiao keeps saying he loves, and the Han people he loves are just a group of greedy people, a group of slaves and weaklings... He still dares to call me Gong Cheng a traitor, grandma, No matter how useless I am, Gong Banlun, I can still silence the Manchu Qing court and burn down their palace, but they will not dare to kill me."
"If there are heroes in the world..." Gong Cheng patted his chest, "I have to be one of them."
Cough, cough, cough... Hearing such shameless words, there was a sound of coughing all around, and these Ryukyu courtiers almost choked to death on their own saliva.
How shameless this person is, no, no, no, it doesn't feel shameless, this guy doesn't feel like a human being. The thoughts in his head are completely from another world. Communicating with him is completely like a duck.
Fan Liansheng was very angry, "Haha, I was really wrong before. Why did you ask me to talk to you about Qi? You already claimed to be Gong Banlun. You don't want the five human ethics. Why should I bother you?" ah."
"What do you think you are? You call the Han people slaves and corrupt people, but aren't you the elite here? Aren't you just the filth and filth in the hearts of Han people all over the world? Isn’t it weird?”
"You keep scolding people in the world for being corrupt and shameless, but in fact you are just making excuses for your own corruption and shamelessness... My uncle has said many times that people's hearts are extremely complex, and there are bodhisattvas and evil ghosts living there. What is the fate of their lives? Whether you follow the path of Bodhisattva or the path of evil ghosts depends on the four words "karma and fate"..."
"As the rulers of a country and as civilized leaders, all we can do is to fiddle with the 'karma and fate' so that more people have the opportunity to show the Bodhisattva way to the world..."
Fan Qian waved his hand, "Forget it, you don't understand even after I tell you. You don't understand what we are really pretending to be. If I say one more word, I'll be wasting my breath. We don't agree with each other... "
Gong Cheng was stunned by what Fan Jian said. Just as he was organizing a rebuttal in his mind, Cai Hao, who was not far away, suddenly said, "Mr. Gong, you'd better put away your theory. In Ryukyu, you There is no market for one set..."
"We admit that what you said is correct. Who has never been greedy or cowardly in this world? No matter how hard he is to defeat the enemy, who has no fear in his heart? The Prime Minister is right. Whether you follow the path of a Bodhisattva or an evil ghost, let's see. It's just a matter of chance..."
"Before you came to the island, there was a rice riot in Ryukyu. Thousands of people, driven by fear and greed, rushed into rice stores and robbed all the military rations. At that moment, what they were thinking and what they were doing was Everything you do is naturally the path of evil ghosts. The white rice and foreign money reflected in your eyes will naturally arouse the greedy devil in your heart..."
Cai Mao looked at Gong Cheng coldly, "If Mr. Gong were present, he would naturally clap his hands, laugh, and jump to cheers, because that scene naturally echoes what you are thinking. You have once again proved that human nature is evil, especially the nature of Han people and Asians. evil……"
"Of course you would think so, because you are practicing the path of evil ghosts, and the dirty evil ghosts living in your heart, so you think that everyone in the world is also an evil ghost like you..." Cai Mao is almost a This sentence came out word by word, and each word was as heavy and loud as a piece of blue brick.
"We did not suppress, nor did we drive away. You know how we made our choice. We forgave all the people who robbed the army rations. We did not want one hundred thousand stones of army rations and more than one hundred thousand silver dollars. Without the army rations, our officers and soldiers gnawed tree bark together. Go wild vegetables...guess what happened next."
Gong Cheng's little eyes shrank. Of course he knew what happened next, because he was the one who instigated the entire rice riot. Water Dog told him everything that happened next.
But today he could only act as a listener and pretend not to know. Cai Hao, who was opposite him, actually looked at him with pity on his face, "We have forgiven the greed and fear of the people, and we have converted the devil in their hearts. What is the result? Thousands of people rushed into the mountains and returned all the rations they had hidden..."
"You have never seen such a scene, and your heart has never been melted. In my eyes, those people holding the last grain of rice in their homes as offerings are the living Bodhisattvas of the world. The path of evil ghosts has become the path of Bodhisattvas. , it’s that simple, it’s just the karma we promote...”
This discussion aroused King Shangtai's interest in the end. The young king didn't even look back and just said calmly, "Shang's father once said that the king and his ministers rule from above, and what the people see is not what the king and his ministers say, but how they behave." Do it...the people's eyes are sharp, and they can't hide whoever is really kind to them or who is a hypocrite."
"Everyone knows this, but if you actually do it, I'm afraid not many people can do it..."
