Emperor Ming Dynasty

On the East China Sea in the first month of the lunar year, several large ships with thousands of materials sailed slowly, with their sails half-opened.

In the low sky, suddenly a group of seagulls passed quickly, singing lowly.

"No, it's a storm coming—"

Suddenly the wind was howling, the waves were raging, and the ink cloud was like a giant city, crushing straight from the sky, accompanied by lightning from time to time, which made people tremble.

The ships fighting against the waves are like a few leaves in front of the sea at this moment, being constantly bumped by the waves, as if they want to turn them upside down to see how many barnacles and clams are on the bottom of the ship.

Fortunately, this group of people has rich experience, and it is also fortunate that this is winter, the wind and waves are not strong, and several boats survived the waves safely.

"call--"

Zhang Huangyan, the newly appointed prefect of Ryukyu, was holding on to the deck out of breath, the rope around his waist was tightly bound, and he was almost out of breath.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

At this time, Shen Yuhai came over, with a rope tied around his waist, and his expression was not much better.

"It's okay." Zhang Huangyan vomited while facing the sea, and he regained his breath after a while: "This sea is so difficult, it's true."

"It's not like in the mountains. Although there are more ferocious beasts and poisonous snakes, there is still a way to run, and the sea can only wait for death."

Yu Hai shook his head, his face full of helplessness.

He was Zeng Ying's general, and as Zeng Ying took refuge with the then King of Yu, he also climbed up steadily, and reached the current position of general, not far from the commander-in-chief.

As for the title, it also went to the earl.

In this matter, he followed Zhang Huangyan to the Ryukyu Mansion. Although it was a bit low-profile, it was more appropriate in terms of power.

Because the Ryukyu Prefecture is different, not only are there many islands, but infantry is needed to maintain them, and sailors are also required to control them.

Therefore, as a general, he has both the navy and the infantry in his hands, and he can be regarded as alone.

However, Yu Dahai glanced at Zhang Huangyan, and continued to appease the sailors and officials without changing his face when he met him, and he couldn't help feeling a little admiration in his heart.

Being exiled to Ryukyu, he still treated it so indifferently, he deserves to be the person who once supported the king of Lu and supervised the country.

That's right, although being promoted from Fu Tongzhi to Zhifu is a promotion, it also depends on where you are promoted, and obviously Ryukyu Prefecture is a land of exile.

All civil and military officials of the imperial court recognized that exile in Hainan in the past was far inferior to exile in Ryukyu.

Without him, the Leizhou Peninsula Strait is peaceful, just like an inland river, but Ryukyu is different. In the wide East China Sea, a single wave is enough to kill you if you don't pay attention.

Definitely the best way to go for political prisoners.

Zhang Huangyan didn't know it. After appeasing everyone, he came to Yu Dahai and said, "According to the sailors, after half a day's work, we can reach Ryukyu."

"That's good." Yu Dahai heaved a sigh of relief, but he would never let go of the rope in his hand.

On the swaying deck, only this thing can give him a trace of safety.

"General Yu—"

"The end is here!"

"This time I entered the Ryukyu, I will say it again, don't go with the thought of just eating and waiting to die."

Zhang Huangyan stared at him seriously, "It's not a place for retirement either."

"This..." Yu Dahai was helpless, he emphasized this sentence several times along the way, he could only nod, and said casually: "I understand, there are pirates and pirates, so we must be prepared for danger in times of peace."

"not enough!"

Zhang Huangyan shook his head, his eyes looked at the endless sea, and the sun that faintly revealed half of his face, his face was firm:
"Train troops and take the initiative to suppress bandits."

"In this way, you can make military achievements, and the sea people will be willing to settle in Ryukyu."

In fact, Zhang Huangyan was quite reluctant when he first learned that he was going to the Ryukyu Mansion.

Ryukyu has only been attached to the country for half a year, and there are only three counties in one prefecture, with [-] households, which is not as good as a county in Zhejiang. Moreover, it has to support thousands of sailors and thousands of soldiers. It can be said that it is very difficult.

But there was no way, the governor talked to him in person:
The imperial court decided to upgrade Ryukyu Mansion from the fourth rank to the third rank starting from the sixth year of Shaowu.

There are three types of mansions in Daming, namely military and civilian mansions, Yuyi mansions, and ordinary mansions. The first two are chieftains, and ordinary mansions are normal.

Among all the mansions in the world, only Yingtian Mansion and Shuntian Mansion were the most prominent. They were originally from the third rank, but they were later upgraded to the third rank, directly two ranks higher.

And if the Ryukyu Mansion is promoted to the third rank, he will cross the third rank from the fifth rank, which is extremely tempting.

At the beginning, he asked eagerly, who was taking care of him like this?
The governor smiled lightly and pointed to the sky.

Only then did he suddenly realize that he was in the emperor's heart!

However, as he thought about it along the way, he was afraid that not only the Ryukyu Mansion was the third rank, but also other remote mansions in other places.

The poorer the place, the higher grades are needed to attract civil servants to take office.

On the 27th of the first lunar month, after ten days of sailing, the group finally arrived at Shuri Castle in Ryukyu Prefecture.

There are three counties in Ryukyu Prefecture, Shannan, Shanbei, and Shanzhong, which are the old names of the three small countries of ancient Ryukyu.

Before he took office, the three magistrates had arrived long ago. These were the lucky ones (unlucky ones) specially selected by the governor of Fujian, thus forming a preliminary order.

After a welcome banquet, Zhang Huangyan discovered a ridiculous thing. Three counties and one prefecture were all crowded in Shuri City to work, and each had a yamen.

After asking, I learned that it turned out that no money caused the trouble.

"The Ryukyu Prefecture is barren and there is not much flat land. Moreover, it has to raise troops and officials. If it weren't for the feudal secretary (chief envoy) to deliver money and food every month, I would have starved to death."

To sum up, the garrison, together with passing sailors, has too many people to eat enough food, too many fish to catch and the price is too low to sell at a price or to collect taxes.

The biggest difficulty is the lack of food and insufficient household registration.

Zhang Huangyan squinted his eyes, but said nothing.

For several days in a row, the new prefect just wandered around Ryukyu, and if he didn't pay attention while riding a horse, he could wander into the sea.

Three days later, Zhang Huangyan announced one thing:

"As long as the ship carrying a hundred stones of grain from Japan or the mainland can be exempted from paying taxes."

This time, immediately caused waves in Shuri Castle.

Although there is no customs in Ryukyu Prefecture, due to its geographical location, all ships going north and south must come here to replenish, and naturally there will be mooring tax, transit tax, etc.

This is also an important source of income for Ryukyu Prefecture.

The sailors and captains were naturally rejoicing and happy.

Because of sea navigation, there must be ballast stones, and if the ballast stones are changed into grain, although it takes up some volume, it can still be satisfied by putting together a few ships.

There are losses, but not many.

But compared with the tax, it is nothing.

As for the three magistrates, they had to gather together and ask the magistrate for an explanation.

Zhang Huang's words were true, and he said bluntly: "Even if you can collect money, can you use the money to buy food?"