Chapter 10: Landing in Ryukyu (2)

When he opened the door of the small conference room, Song Xiance was already inside. Seeing Hong Chengchou walking in with a serious look on his face, he went up and asked, "Old Hong, what happened? Isn't the exercise over?"

"It's not a matter of exercise, it's a matter of the court." Hong Chengchou said.

Song Xiance was stunned and asked, "The master's order has arrived?"

Hong Chengchou nodded, took out the bamboo tube containing the secret edict in his sleeve, and handed it to Song Xiance and said, "Look at it for yourself."

Song Xiance solemnly took it over, took out the secret edict and imperial edict inside, put the imperial edict aside first, opened the secret edict and looked at it, and after a moment, he closed the secret edict and said: "The emperor intends to cut off Japan's external throat, but Japan does not rely too much on the outside. On the contrary, in recent years, the civil relations between us and the Ming Dynasty have been very close. The court has a lot of profits earned from Japan every year."

"Last year, Ryukyu sent a special envoy to Beijing, and the emperor intended to station troops in Ryukyu, but Ryukyu neither agreed nor opposed it. Later, a war with the Dutch broke out, and this matter has been delayed to the present. Obviously, the emperor has not forgotten a small overseas country like Ryukyu." Hong Chengchou said.

"Although Ryukyu is small, it is not too far from our Ming Dynasty. If a powerful fleet stationed Ryukyu and is the enemy country of our Ming Dynasty, it would be a huge threat. Don't forget that the emperor always advocates "decisive battles abroad" and "eliminate dangers and germination". The court now attaches great importance to the ocean. Every year's ocean trade brings high income to the court. For this, the court will never allow an enemy around that can threaten the security of ocean trade." Song Xiance analyzed.

"Ryukyu is not enough to threaten our Ming Dynasty now, even Japan does not have the ability." Hong Chengchou said disapprovingly. Although he could see Zhu Yinglong's intention, he did not take such a barbaric country to heart. He believed that the imperial court had made some big fuss, but these words could only be said in his heart.

"Not now, it does not mean that there is no in the future. Lao Hong, don't forget our "Strategy for Pairing the Japanese"!" Song Xiance reminded.

Hong Chengchou and Song Xiance looked at each other. How could he forget about this? The emperor could not have summoned them to Beijing in a hurry, just for a "Strategy for Pacifying the Japanese". Then there was no further information. With their understanding of the emperor, there must be a series of decrees in the future, and the focus was on Japan!

"The emperor was thinking about conquering the Japanese at this time. Is it too anxious? Even if he uses war to support the Japanese, he may not be able to occupy Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate still has some strength." Hong Chengchou said.

"You underestimate our emperor too much. At present, the biggest enemy of our Ming Dynasty is not that small overseas small country. If the emperor attacked Wa, you think the bosses of the Military Machinery Pavilion would not object. The garrison of Ryukyu was just a springboard for the imperial court to attack Wa. Why did Kublai Khan fail in the expedition to Wa? In addition to the unknown climate at sea, there is another outpost where the enemy is unknown and there is no attack." Song Xiance spent a while with Zhu Yinglong, and was far better than Hong Chengchou to understand Zhu Yinglong's strategic thoughts.

Zhu Yinglong formulated a paralysis strategy, first seizing Ryukyu. Ryukyu is a subsidiary vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Although there was no precedent for the Ming Dynasty to garrison troops, the Tokugawa Shogunate could not find any reason to oppose it, because they were also garrisoned in Ryukyu before this, and Ryukyu surrendered to Japan because of coercion. Therefore, as long as the Ryukyu King takes the initiative to garrison troops in the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese shogunate's army will either resist or withdraw from Ryukyu. As long as the Ming Dynasty does not advance to Japan, the Japanese shogunate will not dare to do anything to Ryukyu. The possibility of mobilizing troops from the local area is very small, but this will give the Edo Shogunate a difficult time to sleep and eat. Will the Japanese shogunate cut off relations with the Ming Dynasty because of the Ming Dynasty's garrison Ryukyu? It should not be, although the Shimazu family invaded Ryukyu.

The shogunate also contributed to the fire behind the scenes, but it was not the Japanese shogunate who sent troops but the private soldiers of the Shimazu family. Ryukyu was a piece of fat. If it weren't for the superior geographical location of the Shimazu family, this piece of fat would not be his turn to eat it. There were no fewer people who were jealous. Therefore, the loss of the Shimazu family should be the result that many people in Japan would like to see. Moreover, in the Qing Dynasty, when Ryukyu left Japan and returned to China, the Japanese shogunate could not do anything to Ryukyu, and even failed to do anything to China. Therefore, Zhu Yinglong had seven layers of confidence in the Ming Dynasty garrisoning troops in Ryukyu. Even the three thousand private soldiers stationed on the Shimazu family in Ryukyu would not attract strong backlash from the Tokugawa shogunate. At most, it would make the Tokugawa shogunate alert and be more cautious about the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yinglong did not intend to attack Japan immediately. Maybe five years, ten years, or even longer. He needed to settle the backyard of his home to take into account overseas. Therefore, for a long time, the Ming Dynasty would not do anything to Japan, and would even strengthen exchanges in order to achieve the goal of controlling Japan economically. During this period, even if the Japanese shogunate was still vigilant about the Ming Dynasty, over time, the Ming Dynasty only focused on the domestic policy and adopted a policy that did not stimulate Japan, and could even give some sweetness. The vigilance of the Japanese shogunate would gradually decrease. When the vigilance of the Japanese Tokugawa Shogunate dropped to the lowest point, at this time, the Ming Dynasty would send troops to land on the Japanese mainland, and the Tokugawa Shogunate would collapse without fighting!

At that time, we should implement the "fight to support the war". Whether to implement the "three-light" policy of "burning all, killing them all, and stealing them all" depends on the situation of the war.

The Japanese Tokugawa Shogunate played a disgraceful role on the eve of the Civil War and secretly sent many Japanese ronin to support Zheng Zhilong's armed coup in Fujian. During that coup, all the relatives of Kyoto Ye Lianyi died tragically, and Yuan Chonghuan's two cousins ​​were also killed. Although this matter was secretly done, the Japanese shogunate recalled the ronin, but this revenge was considered to be a forged. Of course, without this hatred, Zhu Yinglong would not let Japan go. It was just that this hatred made him find a better excuse, and it would also be easier to convince the Military Cabinet and the Cabinet to support his war to attack Japan.

The decree did not limit the time for Hong Chengchou and Song Xianke, because at this time the ship and combat on the sea had great requirements for climate, and even in later generations, it would not be possible to completely ignore the climate conditions. Therefore, if the time was limited, it would make them afraid to disobey the will of quick success and instant benefits. Not only would they expose the target of the action, but they would also lose troops and lose generals. This was not what Zhu Yinglong was willing to see.

The Ming Dynasty also had some exchanges with Ryukyu. After the sea ban was lifted, this exchange also increased, but it was not too frequent. On average, more than 30 ships stayed at Naha Port every month. Most of the other giants were merchant ships from Japan, most of which came from Mikawa Port. The Shimazu family controlled 90% of the foreign trade of Ryukyu, and brought millions of profits to the Shimazu family every year. In particular, the Shimazu family also secretly cooperated with some pirates and secretly robbed merchant ships of other countries and princes to achieve their goal of dominating Ryukyu. In Shuri Castle, the Shimazu family members rushed around and were arrogant, and even the Ryukyu royal family and officials were not taken seriously. They were extremely arrogant.

Some merchants in the Ming Dynasty must first be extorted by the Shimazu family's army stationed in Naha Port when they arrive at Ryukyu, and then they can gain the power to get ashore. If they do not follow, they will detain the merchant ship and make you lose all their money. Merchants seek wealth, as long as they have money to make money, as long as they are not too excessive, they will give it. Therefore, although they are a little resentful, they usually rarely act excessively. Moreover, the Ming people who go to Ryukyu to do business have never dared to take them.

Women, because the Japanese are lustful, if they fall in love with someone, if they don’t follow them, they will be in danger of their lives and property immediately. A businessman once did not know this secret rule, and brought the beautiful family and the beautiful girl. As a result, the beautiful family and the beautiful girl were seen by the son of Kawayama, the general of the Ryukyu garrison of the Shimazu family. As a result, the beautiful family became the toy under the crotch, and the beautiful girl also became the personal sex slave of the family, and finally the family was destroyed.

The private soldiers of the Shimazu family are not too embarrassed by the people in Ryukyu. At most, they are bullying and generally not killing people because they are also afraid of arousing public anger. These merchants from other places are different. They have no foundation and no power. Even if they are robbed or killed, no one will stand up. Therefore, this potential rule is established. The merchant ships entering and leaving Ryukyu are all men.

The Japanese geisha who was dissatisfied with the desire to be introduced to Ryukyu, and I don’t know what the aesthetics of the Japanese were. Their faces were covered with white powder and their lips were like monkeys’ butts. When I smiled, the pink fell down. The fat and ugly woman was actually the favorite of the Japanese. Maybe the Japanese learned the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty and had not changed it yet!

The Japanese army is generally full of rattan armor. Only a few elite samurai will wear leather armor. Only those at the top of the general are qualified to pass on iron armor. Because Japan has shortage of resources in China, strategic materials such as steel are even in short supply.

The Japanese were generally low, with thick calves, thin arms, poor physical fitness, and their overall combat power was naturally not high. They lacked firearms, fewer artillery, old equipment, and uneven combat power. The Shimazu family had strong financial resources, but they only raised 20,000 private soldiers, which was considered to be relatively strong. Three thousand were stationed in Ryukyu, of which 500 were stationed in Naba Port, 1,000 Shuri City, and about 1,500 were stationed in the five northern islands. Later, because they heard that the Ming Dynasty was going to station troops in Ryukyu, two thousand were stationed in Shuri, and there was also a small fleet with a population of about 1,000, and more than 200 ships of all sizes and sizes. The base was Shanchuan Port.
Chapter completed!