Xinshun 1730

Chapter 333
After the banquet was over, the King of Ryukyu sent people to the Angel Pavilion quietly and offered gold and silver.

Liu Yu still confiscated it, and returned the silver collected every day to paralyze the Satsuma clan, and told the envoy not to do this again in the future.

Zhao Baiquan saw it in his eyes, but he felt mixed feelings in his heart.There are rumors in the capital that Liu Yu is a good fortune, but now it seems that these words may not be true.

Zhao Baiquan didn't mind thinking that all the officials, big and small, who came to Ryukyu this time would scold their mothers one by one when they went back.He has made a great contribution this time, helping the vassal state to quell the external invasion. If the Ryukyu King can really follow them back to the capital, it will be considered a great event.

"Ying Suo Bo is indeed a noble person. It seems that some rumors in the capital are false. It can be seen that what is heard is not true, and seeing is believing."

He complimented Liu Yu with a smile, and said, "But I don't know when we will return to court?"

"It will take some time to return to the imperial court. Firstly, the king of Zhongshan needs to deal with the affairs of the Ryukyu country and clean up the pro-Wa family. Secondly..." Liu Yu smiled and led Zhao Baiquan to say: "Master Zhao feels that the Ryukyu country Can it withstand the Japanese attack?"

At the banquet, Zhao Baiquan also persuaded the King of Ryukyu with an official article, telling him to straighten out his military equipment and cultivate a moral government, instead of relying solely on the celestial dynasty.

But he himself knew that what he said was nonsense.

No matter how well prepared the military equipment is, even if Ryukyu really trains a Qingzhou army; even if the Ryukyu king is really the reincarnation of civil and military, with unparalleled virtue and government, it may be difficult to resist the revenge of the Japanese kingdom.

The gap in national strength is too great.

It's okay to say some nonsense, what I'm afraid of is that I take the nonsense seriously, but fortunately Zhao Baiquan didn't take it seriously.

Seeing Liu Yu's question, he pondered for a while, and then smiled, all in that chuckle.

"Master Zhao, there is no one here, so I'll just say something straight. If the Japanese really fight Ryukyu again, do you think our court will send troops to help Ryukyu like Wanli aided the court?"

"Uh……"

In Zhao Baiquan's view, this question is unsolvable.

He is a doctor of the Li government, and his vassal is related to the majesty of the heavenly dynasty, so he is supposed to be beaten.

But he is also against the militaristic party, and privately thinks that it is really worthless for the Chinese to fight for a poor and clanging Ryukyu.

What was spent was the sweat of the common people, and the blood of the celestial dynasty, for a land of this size, to start a war with the Japanese country, which could gather an army of 20?
Many people in the court actually opposed even the attack on the Western Regions, thinking that it would be a waste of money for the people, as long as the tribute was maintained.After the game is completed, money has to be invested every year. What do many people think of this picture?Just trying to make a name for opening up territories?

Now Liu Yu took the initiative to ask Zhao Baiquan, and he really didn't know how to answer, so he could only say: "Thinking about this incident, the Japanese know the majesty of my dynasty, and they will not dare to do it again in the future."

"My dynasty can send a flat boat and an envoy to the Japanese country to reprimand the Japanese people about the Ryukyu affairs. The Japanese people should know that my dynasty is strong, and they will not dare to mess around in the future."

Liu Yu snorted, and asked back: "If the Japanese commit another crime, are the people from the Li government planning to commit suicide and apologize? Mr. Zhao, if you have something to say, ask yourself, do you believe it? Take a flat boat, send Master Zhao to Edo City, to talk to the Japanese general?"

Zhao Baiquan was choked, and said helplessly: "Even if you go to the Japanese country, you must obey the emperor's order. If the emperor orders me to use the Japanese to go through fire and water, why should I be afraid? It's just that the Japanese have been obeyed now, and the culprit has been punished... "

"Master Zhao, stabbing people and killing them is not me, but soldiers. The culprit has been killed? Are you sure the culprit has been killed? Master Zhao's words are against the words of the saints."

Using the metaphor of a murderer and a soldier, Zhao Baiquan couldn't say that this was nonsense, he kept silent, and Liu Yu took advantage of the victory to pursue.

"Furthermore, the Japanese invaded my vassal, but I only sent someone to reprimand him. Isn't Mr. Zhao encouraging the barbarians to invade our vassal? Anyway, it's fine, it's just a few scoldings. Mr. Zhao is really a qualified member of the government. , etiquette is all used on others."

With a swipe, Zhao Baiquan's face blushed, and he thought to himself, what can I do?
In terms of righteousness, the Japanese must be killed; but in terms of profit, cutting down the Japanese is a waste of money and people.

Thinking in his heart about the current world, the people in the Li government want to talk about profit, and the children of Wude Palace who don't study want to talk about righteousness... This world is really messed up.

Seeing that Zhao Baiquan was blushing and speechless, Liu Yu's tone gradually became warmer and less aggressive.

"There is also Ryukyu, who has lied to the Celestial Dynasty for so long, who can guarantee that there will be no more incidents in the future? Since the 37th year of Wanli, 130 years, no one knows about the deception, or some people know it and deliberately do not report it. Is this not deception? Ryukyu The court should solve the matter, and it should not happen again."

Zhao Baiquan thought about his speech for a long time, and had no choice but to say: "At the banquet, the king of Zhongshan mentioned the events of the year. Since he was invaded by the Japanese in the 37th year of Wanli, his heart has always been toward the heavenly dynasty. Call the police. It can be seen that the people of Ryukyu want to go to heaven, but they are powerless..."

Liu Yu couldn't stop laughing.

"Master Zhao, Master Zhao, you are really stupid. The King of Ryukyu said that in the 44th year of Wanli, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent Murayama Qiu'an to invade Taiwan, and Ryukyu gave an early warning. Think about it, is it out of loyalty to the Celestial Dynasty? Or because if If the Japanese occupy Taiwan, the Ryukyu transit port trade will be over and the Celestial Dynasty will be informed if they can’t make any money?”

"Based on Ryukyu, what's the best situation? The Celestial Empire locks up the country, and Taiwan is in the hands of the Celestial Empire. What's the worst? The Celestial Empire is switched off, and Taiwan is in the hands of the Japanese. If the Japanese occupied Taiwan back then and traded with the Celestial Empire in the future, What do Ryukyu people earn? What do they eat? What do they drink? What do they spend?"

"Now that the dynasty has been turned on and off, and now Ryukyu has cleared the Japanese people, the Ryukyu trade will no longer exist in the future. The loyalty of the Ryukyu people is shown to the Ministry of Rites and the Rites government, but it is for trade."

"I'm going to put my words here today. If the court doesn't control the current situation, if we leave today, tomorrow Ryukyu will send people to the Japanese country to show their goodwill in order to ensure smooth trade. They will also use the majesty of the Celestial Dynasty to scare the Japanese people." , Keep yourself independent. Do you dare to make a bet with me, Mr. Zhao?"

Zhao Baiquan read the books of sages and sages, so how can he know what's in it?
But listening to what Liu Yu said, it was really hard to refute.Liu Yu said that the early warning in the 44th year of Ryukyu Wanli was also for fear of losing its status as a transit port, and it may even deliberately cause conflicts between China and Japan to profit.It sounds like an inference made from the evil of human nature, but Zhao Baiquan was really convinced by Liu Yu in his heart, and he already believed it.

Liu Yu said again: "Don't talk about Ryukyu. What was North Korea beaten up by the Japanese? Trade with the Japanese without turning around? There are some things that Mr. Zhao can't read while sitting at home."

Zhao Baiquan said with a wry smile: "Forget it, I'm not as good as Ying Suobo in such matters, and I dare not take this bet. But what do you want to do? You can't restore the parallel system of prefectures and states in the Han Dynasty? Do you want the Celestial Dynasty to send people to Ryukyu? Do Xiangbang, Sansi?"

After the bitter smile, the smile became even more bitter.

"In fact, Ying Suobo also understands in his heart that the tributary country of this dynasty is real, and it has been tossed away by you in the past few years. Some small countries in the west are mixed, and many of them have long since been destroyed, but they are still under the name of The banner of the tributary came, and after the Western Regions were pacified, the imperial court strictly investigated and dealt with many officials. The Mongolian ministries have also become subordinates, and are no longer tributary states; Only North Korea and Ryukyu are left."

"How can there be no tributary country in the Celestial Dynasty? Ying Suobo set a precedent by turning Rakshasa into diplomacy and acknowledging the Rakshasa emperor's throne. Western countries have diplomacy without paying tribute. This world is in disarray. We must keep some Heaven is decent."

"If the prefectures and states are parallel and control the vassal government, it is inconsistent with the etiquette. If there is no etiquette, why is the Celestial Dynasty called the Celestial Dynasty?"

Liu Yu didn't want to argue about this, but instead asked: "Don't talk about this, just talk about educating the vassals. Is the Celestial Dynasty obliged? Ryukyu has used more Chinese studies and less Chinese studies in recent years. Is this the responsibility of the government?"

"I only hope that Mr. Zhao will know what's going on with the vassals after this trip, so as not to sit at home and speculate. The Ryukyu education, until now, the study of harmony is flourishing, and the study of Chinese is declining. This kind of education should be placed in the Kingdom of Yinggui. The Li government minister is going to take the blame and resign!"

The reason why I said these things to Zhao Baiquan was because Zhao Baiquan also wanted to write a report on his mission to Ryukyu and hand it over to the imperial court.Some things Liu Yu said, they have an aura of political enemies, and many people may oppose them for the sake of opposition.

Liu Yu's status is a bit special, and there are some words that are better said by Zhao Baiquan.

In addition, Liu Yu is not going to return directly to the imperial court for the time being. He wants to inspect the Zhongcheng Port of Ryukyu, and by the way, he will take the fleet to visit Japan and go straight to Edo, which will bring panic to the shogunate and make it possible for the shogunate to live with Dashun in the future. When fighting on Kyushu Island, a large number of troops must be reserved in Edo.

Liu Yu wanted the shogunate to know one thing in advance: Dashun's navy was capable of landing in Edo, so that the shogunate did not dare to send too many troops to Kyushu Island.

And you also need to know that Dashun's navy can land anywhere in Japan. If you don't want to be stolen, you should honestly prepare a team of emergency troops for each vassal state, and send fewer people to Kyushu Island. Sign the contract, hello and me.

As for directly landing in Edo, Liu Yu has not considered such an idea for the time being. He wants to save more face for the shogunate and retain more authority of the shogunate so that the shogunate can be the governor of the land.

If Dashun does not want to sell arms in Japan, but intends to sell silk and porcelain, then it is best to let the Japanese shogunate still exist to maintain the current seemingly unified market.

This is a very simple reason. Japan lacks resources. If the shogunate loses all its authority and returns to the Warring States Period, the daimyos will definitely spend their money, expand their army, and buy arms.Then there is no money to buy what Liu Yu wants to sell.

Moreover, arms are a thing that sells well for a while, but there will be endless troubles in the future.

Porcelain, silk and cotton cloth are not the case. They are very cool when they are sold, and they are even better after the local porcelain and textile industries are completely defeated.

In addition, he also sent a letter to the shogunate to teach the shogunate one thing: If Dashun really wants to force Japan to found a country, then go to Kyoto and find the so-called "emperor" to take the blame. Shogun steps.

It would be bad if no one in Japan thought of this way of finding someone to take the blame, so that the shogunate wanted to hold on to its prestige.

Anyway, in the current situation, once Japan switches, whoever has trouble with the shogunate will have trouble with him.Whoever dares to provoke civil strife in Japan and restore the king to the government will be in trouble with the shareholders of the entire southeast coast who have invested in trade with Japan.

These issues are closely related to Ryukyu. In the future, Ryukyu will lose trade opportunities. We must ensure that Ryukyu will not turn into pirates this year, and we must find a way to change Ryukyu slightly. In the future, as a naval base, at least we can buy food instead of letting His sailors, like the Ryukyu people, ate banana leaves and cycads.

There is no need to discuss these considerations with Zhao Baiquan, but to achieve the goal, Zhao Baiquan needs to "guide" the Ryukyu King.

For Ryukyu, this is also an excellent opportunity for change.

A large number of pro-Japanese factions were purged, all of them were nobles from the upper class of Ryukyu.Its foreign policy is pro-Japanese, and it is extremely opposed to the implementation of the inventory of land and land equalization at home. Ryukyu can take this opportunity to make some changes.

As well as issues such as enlightenment, assimilation, and control in the future, the emperor has some words that cannot save the emperor's face.Especially it looks like a small country like Ryukyu, which is harmless to humans and animals, is being bullied.

Zhao Baiquan made a very good talk just now, that is the parallel system of prefectures and states in the early Han Dynasty.For the transition from the vassal to the mainland, the parallel system of prefectures and states in the Han Dynasty provided a good template.But in Liu Yu's opinion, it is not very suitable for Ryukyu.

This is like a game between the local government and the central government. Those who are parachuted from the central government to the local government will inevitably join forces to fight against each other. This instead gives the Ryukyu King a chance to unite the local Ryukyu clans.

Because the people appointed by the Celestial Dynasty had too deep roots, the Ryukyu King had no choice but to seek cooperation with the local clan.

On the contrary, since there are still surnames of 36 people from Fujian, they have never had the opportunity to be in power in the Ryukyu political situation due to the suppression of the pro-Japanese faction these years.

This is an opportunity. The King of Ryukyu should choose a local with 36 surnames from Hokkien to be in power, and take advantage of the opportunity of this big cleansing to completely eliminate the power of the local clan.Guided by the strengthening of the royal power, the pro-Japanese faction should be completely eliminated, and the 36 surnames who have a shallow foundation but make the Celestial Dynasty happy, this should be what the Ryukyu King would like to see.

Positions such as the Prime Minister, the Governor, and the Third Secretary can be reserved for local people.But the imperial court still wants to send people to do some enlightenment... that is, assimilation work.

Perhaps in the Celestial Dynasty, the Li government is the most shameless of the six governments.But in Ryukyu, the status of the Chinese commissioner in charge of enlightenment etiquette is quite different.

On the one hand, we can carry out assimilation work and reverse the situation that Hexue is better than Sinology, and on the other hand, we can monitor Ryukyu's actions.

After this big purge, the 36 surnames who have been suppressed can emerge and fill the vacant seats.

In view of the situation in Ryukyu in history, Cai Wen adopted a policy of being culturally pro-China to attack political opponents and politically pro-Japanese to maintain Ryukyu. It is understandable and a wise choice.Just because his ancestors are direct descendants of the four calligraphers known in history as "Mi, Su, Cai, and Huang", one cannot think that he must be close to the Celestial Dynasty, that only exists in an imaginary world.

Smart people will adopt new policies as the situation changes. After this incident, the option of being politically pro-Japanese can be completely ruled out by smart people.

As for whether Cai Wen can stand out, it still depends on whether he has real skills.Before Ryukyu was all about tribute, and tribute was everything.

Now that the tribute trade is transferred to China and Japan, it is useless. At this time, it can still make political achievements. At least let the people of Ryukyu eat sweet potatoes. This is the real skill.Otherwise, it would be too simple to just plant trees, build ships, and maintain the tribute to be considered an outstanding person.

(End of this chapter)