On November 8, 1790, after a week of continuous sailing, the Northern Navy's southbound fleet arrived in the waters east of Fujian and Zhejiang. Of course it was very close to Ryukyu, so close that Deng Fei felt he would be sorry if he didn't go there.
His idea was strongly supported by Zhao Xin, who was thousands of miles away. Zhao Xin's original words in the telegram were, it's always good to take a look! It would be even more perfect if we could borrow a piece of land to use as a transit base going south in the future.
There is a theory in another time and space that Ryukyu once escaped from the control of Satsuma Domain by surrendering to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately, this is just the conjecture of some people.
In fact, the Ryukyu Kingdom is closer to the island country than ancient China. The dispute between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Satsuma Domain began in the early 16th century. It is said that a poor man meets a hungry man.
As early as the era of King Shoei in the 16th century, the Ryukyu Kingdom had borrowed money from the Satsuma Domain. However, because Ryukyu is so poor, it is often borrowed but never repaid. There was once a national loan of 250 guan, and the Satsuma Domain sent people to ask for it five times but never got it back.
According to the "Zhongshan Genealogy" records, in 1562, 1579, and 1606, the Ming court sent envoys to Ryukyu three times. As a result, Japanese ships came in droves after hearing the news and clashed with the conferment fleet. The Ryukyu Kingdom doesn't even dare to let go of a fart, which shows how afraid it is.
Beginning in 1593, Ryukyu, under the intimidation of the monkey Hideyoshi, dispatched Aya ships to send half of the domestic grain and grass to Southern Kyushu in lieu of sending troops to assist in the attack on the Li Dynasty.
In the thirty-seventh year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (1609), because Ryukyu refused to help the island country restart trade with the Ming Dynasty, and the poor Satsuma clan had long coveted Ryukyu trade, it used this as an excuse to launch an invasion. It is known in history. "Battle of Keicho Ryukyu".
On September 19, the thirty-ninth year of Wanli (an auspicious day!), King Shonin and his ministers were forced to sign the "Fifteen Articles" with the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima. From then on, the Satsuma Domain controlled the foreign trade of the Ryukyu Kingdom. and internal affairs, even weights and measures were switched to those of the island country, and since then the latter has become a vassal of the Satsuma Domain.
After the Manchu and Qing Dynasties entered the customs, starting from the third year of Shunzhi, Ryukyu began to request the Qing government for canonization. In the eleventh year of Shunzhi, King Shangzhi sent an envoy to Fujian and handed over the imperial seal of the Ming Dynasty, before he was named King of Zhongshan. Since the war along the coast was not yet over at that time, the envoys were forced to stay in Fujian. It was not until the second year of Kangxi that it officially became a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty.
You must know that a vassal state is very different from a vassal state. A vassal state is not subject to the suzerain state in terms of domestic affairs, diplomacy, and economy, and only expresses submission in name. A vassal state refers to a country that maintains a certain degree of sovereignty in name but is actually subordinate and controlled by other countries to a certain extent in terms of internal affairs, diplomacy, and economy.
Since the Momoyama period of the island nation, the Ryukyu Kingdom has to hand over thousands of koku of rice to the poor Satsuma every year, and it also has to bear half of the expenses of the Shimadzu family's garrison on Amami Oshima. In order to profit from Ryukyu's trade with China and fear that China would accuse it, the Satsuma clan tried its best to conceal the truth of its invasion of Ryukyu. On the one hand, Ryukyu was afraid of offending the Satsuma clan, and on the other hand, it was afraid that the Manchus would cut off trade between the two sides because of this incident, so they also helped cover up the truth.
This means that Ryukyu is not only a vassal state under the Chinese canonization system, but also a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain under the Japanese shogunate system. To put it nicely, it is called "two attributes", but to put it badly, it is "riding on the fence".
Contrary to the imagination of many people in later generations, China only exerted a subtle and superficial political influence on Ryukyu during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Likewise, the impact of Chinese culture on Ryukyu people’s ideology, behavioral patterns, and lifestyle is extremely superficial.
Historically, until the 1870s, the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty were not aware of the fact that Ryukyu had two boats. By the time the Chinese later realized the importance of the Ryukyu Islands, they had been ruled by the island nation for more than three hundred years.
So stop talking about "loyalty". If you really want to be loyal, this won't be the case! Even if they later asked for help from the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it was because they wanted to maintain their independence and they never thought of incorporating themselves into the Chinese territory.
Because of its poor products, Ryukyu relied heavily on intermediary sea trade. The purpose of becoming a vassal state of China was for "tribute trade". They sent the reward goods obtained from paying tribute to China to overseas countries for trade, and then shipped the goods purchased from Southeast Asian countries to China for tribute trade again.
Although Taizu of the Ming Dynasty had given thirty-six surnames to the Ryukyu and Fujian people who were good at boating, those people were no longer Chinese and their allegiance was to the Shang family. The Ryukyu Kingdom is a strict hierarchical society. Only people from Shuri, Tomari, Naha, and Kume can become officials. People from other places can only work as servants at the lowest level even if they are literate, and they will have to work for life. No promotion allowed.
Even if it is just a country with a big nose, it is the common sense of the ancients that it would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. Wouldn’t it be nice to be a hereditary official of rank 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6? Among the thirty-six surnames of the Fujian people, the Cai family has even served as a first-class prime minister.
For example, there are still immigrants from Central Asia in the Western Regions. Do you dare to say that the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains that Kangxi's ancestors spent 70 years conquering are not Chinese? The island nation has ruled Ryukyu for three hundred years. What's wrong with him asserting power? The reason is simply that they don’t like island countries.
The historical truth is actually quite embarrassing. It does not mean that the vassal states included in the canonization system are their own inherent territories. This is different from the Western Regions, Snowy Areas and Mongolia. If you never get it, why lose it?
For the vassal states surrounding ancient China, economic and political interests were the purpose of tribute and canonization, and they never thought of incorporating their territory into China.
Three years ago, in order to avenge the family leader Date Shigemura, the Sendai clan asked Hokkai Town for help. After a great battle at Mount Hito, the previous head of the family, Shigehao Shimazu, the father-in-law of Sea Dog Lord, died in the battle. The successor head of the family, Shimazu Sai, abandoned the country and fled to Ryukyu. Of the twenty-one counties in Minami Kyushu, Sendai Clan took away eighteen, while Hokkai Town took the three most important counties of Izuku, Isa and Hisikari.
Since then, the Shimazu family's six-hundred-year rule on Kyushu Island has collapsed, and the Sendai clan, with the support of Hokkaido Town, has officially turned against the Tokugawa shogunate.
Although the Shimazu family was defeated in the island country, the skinny old bird was still bigger than an ant. Unfortunately, Ryukyu is that ant. At that time, Tokugawa Ieyasu acquiesced that the Amami Islands were the direct territory of the Shimadzu family, and the Satsuma clan had cultivated them for nearly two hundred years. So Shimazu Sainobu fled to Michinoshima (Amami Oshima) with a group of retainers. At the same time, he also completely inherited the Satsuma Domain's fleet of sixty Benzai ships.
Although Amami Oshima is larger than Lake Biwa and is large enough for Shimazu Sainobu to dominate, it is too close to Minami Kyushu. The straight-line distance is only more than 700 miles. They can bring the fleet to kill them in minutes.
At the beginning, Shimazu Sainobu also asked Ryukyu merchants to negotiate with Date Muratsune, and they would hand over one thousand koku of rice and two thousand tons of brown sugar every year in exchange for an armistice. But Ida Village, who has the support of Beihai Town, often sneers at this. Isn’t it delicious to take over the sugar cane fields and sell brown sugar? Besides, Beihai Town also promised to teach him the sugar refining technology.
So the exiles of the Shimazu family thought together, forget it, there is no chance of counting on the shogunate, and they should continue running south. The next stop for this group of people was Okinawa, which is 1,200 miles away from Minami Kyushu. The Shimazu family has an enforcement office at Naha Port. Shimazu Sainobu planned to use force to force the monarchs and ministers of the Nakayama Kingdom to control Zhongshan Kingdom.
It is said that Ryukyu, which is isolated in the sea, has almost no external enemies except for the time when it was invaded by the Shimadzu family more than a hundred years ago. There has been no war for many years, and the military equipment is useless. After the remnants of the Shimazu family landed, in addition to the hundreds of palace guards in the Zhongshan Kingdom, the common people could only defend themselves against enemies with wooden sticks, kitchen knives, hatchets and bamboo poles. How the hell could he defeat a bunch of vicious exiled warriors?
Since then, the sad era of the walled country has begun. In just half a year, King Shomu was completely eliminated, and Shimazu Shinobu gradually ascended to the position of Ryukyu Shadow King.
Not only important departments such as the Prime Minister's Office, the Legal Affairs Department, the Tozhiguan, the Iron and Metallurgical Bureau, the Gold Mining Bureau, the Chengyun Zuoku, the Chengyun Youku, Guangfengcang, the Armament Department and even the following prefectural administrative departments were controlled by Shimadzu's feudal lords, Even royal institutions such as the inner palace, inner kitchen, and dining room are under control.
Although the Hokkai No. 1 has passed by Ryukyu twice this year, because it did not dock at the port and it was a sailing ship, the uninformed Shimazu family thought it was a ship belonging to foreigners.
But Shimazu Sainobu will never forget the blue and white Thor until his death. When the North Navy fleet passed through the waters of Sakurajima, it was the Thor that led the way.
So when the "Foresight Office" located southwest of Naha Port sent someone back to report that a huge white ship with the word "Thunder God" written on it was approaching the port with two large sailing ships, Shimazu announced I was so scared that I almost peed, and then I became inexplicably sad and angry.
"I'm hiding so far away, you guys are trying to kill them all!"
However, indignation is indignation. The Northern Navy is really not something that the Shimadzu family can afford to offend. So if you can't afford to fight, you can always hide. After sending people to intimidate King Shomu, Shimazu Sainobu led a group of personal warriors to Takamiya Castle, twenty miles south of Shuri.
When the Thor and the two fleets of sailboats arrived at the sea five kilometers outside Naha Port, they did not break through forcefully, but waited for someone from Ryukyu to contact them.
King Shomu, who had been warned by Shimazu Sainobu, warned his officials to uphold the fine tradition of "gentleness, courtesy, thrift and concessions" and never offend the people of Beihai Town, otherwise it would be a disaster for the country.
So the Prime Minister of the Ryukyu Kingdom appointed a third-rank official to Naha. This position was specifically responsible for conducting tribute trade with the Qing Dynasty. This person's name is Lin Shichang, a Jiumi native, and a descendant of the Fujian people with the thirty-sixth surname.
Some people say that the "Aragaki" clan of the island nation in later generations originated from the Lin clan of Okinawa. However, in Chinese history, "Aragaki" is also one of the compound surnames; during the Ryukyu Kingdom period, there was a place on Okinawa called Aragaki, which was called "Arasaka" in Ryukyu dialect.
After Lin Shichang boarded the ship and left Naha Port, the closer he got to the Northern Navy fleet, the wider his mouth opened, and the look of shock in his eyes became more intense.
Just two 1,500-ton sailboats are big enough, and the Thor is even scarier. He heard from the Shimazu family feudal lord that this ship was made entirely of fine iron, which was completely beyond his knowledge.
When he boarded the Thor with his two "envoys", his jaw dropped at the sight on the deck, his eyes were running wildly, and his legs were shaking a little.
This time the fleet went south. Although Deng Fei was responsible for all external negotiations and Wang Yuanfang was only responsible for combat, Wang Yuanfang was still very curious about Ryukyu, so he accompanied Deng Fei to receive them.
When Ryukyu's boat stopped under the gangway of the Thor, the two of them walked down the poop. When they waited for Lin Shichang, they saw this man wearing a yellow round flat-top silk hat, dark blue robes, and a dragon around his waist. A flat red belt, but wearing a pair of wooden clogs on her feet. The two men following him were only dressed in bunting attire, with buns on their heads and straw sandals on their feet.
Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang looked at each other and said to themselves that although they were holding each other's arms, this was not Hanfu. It seems that I have been deceived by the rumors of the people in the power plant again.
After waiting for a long time, Lin Shichang finally realized his gaffe, so he blushed, smiled and cupped his hands at Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang in front of him, and said in Mandarin with a Minzhe accent: "My official, the Ryukyu Kingdom is discussing Doctor Lin Shichang. Who are you two?"
"I am Deng Fei, the head of the navy in Beihai Town, and I am also the captain of this ship. This is Wang Yuanfang, the head of the army department in Beihai Town. We are passing through your country on our way south this time for a special visit."
Lin Shichang blinked and said in surprise: "Navy? Army?"
After listening to Deng Fei's explanation, Lin Shichang was even more scared. He understood it according to the official position of Dai Qing opposite him, and said in his heart, okay! I bet one is the admiral of the navy and the other is the chief military officer.
However, how could Lin Shichang dare to mention bringing Qing Qing? He was afraid that the other party would use this as an excuse to find trouble. So he hurriedly said: "Although our country is small, we admire China. Since the Hongwu period of the previous Ming Dynasty, we have sent envoys to pay tribute and have exchanges with the Central Plains. We have been a vassal of the Ming Dynasty for a long time."
"Oh," Deng Fei suddenly asked with a smile on his face: "Then what is the status of the Shimadzu family here?"
"Uh..." Lin Shichang thought to himself: Why didn't this guy pick up any of the pots? However, he was already prepared and said with a smile: "Although the Shimazu family has perished, they have been in contact with our country for many years. I, Wang Lian, Please don’t be offended by the special island given to him for his temporary stay.”
Deng Fei nodded and didn't take it seriously. Because he wanted to set up a transit base here, he deliberately frightened the other party and immediately invited Lin Shichang to take a seat in the poop.
When Lin Shichang walked into the poop, he couldn't stop looking around. After entering the conference room on the second floor, he was even more shocked by the transparent glass portholes.
Ryukyu has always connected to Nanman and China in the west, and Japan in the east. Since the Ming Dynasty, their fleets have shuttled between Siam, Fodani (Pattani), Annan, Manlaga, Old Port, Java, Li Dynasty, island countries and other places. The trading business is booming.
Although he had seen many rare and exotic goods, such a large piece of transparent glass was unheard of, not to mention that Lin Shichang had noticed the windows on the stern of the ship before on the deck, and his eyes were dazzled by the number.
After waiting for the tea, Deng Fei said that he had heard that Ryukyu was rich in sulfur and that he wanted to explore the road this time and buy some on the way. Lin Shichang finally felt relieved when he heard that the other party wanted to buy sulfur.
The sulfur produced in Ryukyu was called "white sulfur" in ancient times. It is as hard as stone, smooth and moist, and has no smell. In addition to being used for medical purposes and making gunpowder, this thing can also be used for plastering and caulking on sea ships. Historically, white sulfur was the main tribute in the tribute trade of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
For Beihai Town, sulfur can be used to make sulfur soap for disinfection and sterilization, and can also be used to make pesticides, which are used in agriculture and daily life.
Lin Shichang asked with a relaxed tone: "I wonder how much you want to buy?"
"Ten thousand catties, twenty thousand catties is better. And twenty thousand catties per year."
Good guy, Lin Shichang was so shocked that his hands trembled and the tea in the cup almost spilled. You must know that the current annual sulfur production in Ryukyu is less than 20,000 kilograms, so the other party is willing to accept everything.
"The people of my country are few and our resources are weak. I am afraid that the number requested by your envoy will not be reached."
"This is not simple yet," Deng Fei said with a smile: "We can jointly develop it. We will provide the machinery and you will provide the manpower. It is not a problem to quadruple the output."
Lin Shichang said with joy on his face: "In this case, please wait for a few days. I will rush back to Shuli and report to my king."
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Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: Shukeju
