I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 282 Eight Northeastern Islands
However, the biggest problem of the Satsuma Domain is not this, but that the previous and current generations of feudal lords and family governors were all sons of concubines.

The Satsuma Domain is still very concerned about the legitimacy of the feudal lord's succession. Two consecutive generations of bastards succeeded to the throne, and Shimazu Tsutoyo has lived in Edo Castle for many years. He has close to no control over the Satsuma Domain and has little control within the domain. foundation.

Therefore, Shimazu Yoshiki acted in hindsight. On the one hand, he took power as an agent, and on the other hand, he was planning for Shimazu Tsutoyo.

From re-dividing the territorial classes of the Satsuma Domain to seeking marriage for Shimazu Tsutoyo, the adopted daughter of the former shogunate Takehime (Jogan-in, I have to say, the Jo-gan-in in the film and television series is really good-looking), adding more Shimazu Tsutoyo abundant political chips.

Historically, Shimazu Yoshiki did succeed, but he also paid a heavy price for it.

After all, marrying the shogunate required a large amount of bride price. Shimazu Yoshiki even built a palace for Shimazu Tsutoyo and Joganin in Edo Castle, where land was extremely valuable, for the couple and their dowry to live.

This is tantamount to worsening the already difficult financial situation of Satsuma Domain.

And in order to promote this political marriage, Shimazu Yoshiki was not only sending money to the Edo shogunate, but also constantly sending money to the imperial family (matchmaker).

Now the finances of the entire Satsuma Domain are becoming increasingly difficult under the management of such a capable feudal lord as Shimazu Yoshiki, and this is also the reason.

Therefore, Shimazu Yoshiki did not have the spare money to go to war with the Chinese emperor. Not to mention that he would not win at all. If he won, he would not get any benefits, and the efforts of the Satsuma clan would be in vain.

Shimazu Yoshiki did not know that in fact, in another 20 years, Shimazu Tsutoyo would abdicate in favor of his youngest son Shimazu Munonobu due to long-term illness.

At this time, not only Shimazu Yoshiki was still alive, but Shimazu Munanobu was also a commoner. Therefore, the Satsuma Domain had an extremely rare situation where three generations of feudal lords were under the same roof, and all three generations of feudal lords succeeded to the throne.

Then the next year, Shimazu Yoshiki passed away, most likely out of anger.

Shimazu Yoshiki thought repeatedly and weighed the pros and cons. After a long time, he finally sighed and ordered: "Instruct the Satsuma clan's fleet to immediately begin patrolling the waters of the Amami Islands. If a Chinese fleet is discovered... remember to negotiate with it first. , if the negotiations are fruitless, we will expel them by force. Even if our Satsuma Domain is no match for China, it is not for nothing. Also, I ordered the feudal soldiers of the Amami Islands to protect the islands of the Shimazu family. If they I will treat my Shimazu family well even if they break it for me!"

Tanegashima Itoki quickly bowed his head respectfully: "Yes, sir!"

Shimazu Yoshiki still had illusions at this time, believing that the Amami Islands had been ruled by the Satsuma Domain for nearly a hundred years. Even the Ryukyu people themselves had accepted the reality. If the Chinese emperor did not want a full-scale conflict with Japan, he would not have come.

After all, the Chinese emperor was still at war with the Qing Dynasty at this time, so it was unexpected for Shimazu Yoshiki to come to Ryukyu.

Moreover, even Kangxi was concerned about the relationship between the two countries and only asked the Satsuma Domain to restore the Ryukyu King, but did not say anything about the Amami Islands.

But it is obvious that Shimazu Yoshiki thinks too much.

……

Shimazu Yoshiki's order had just left Kagoshima Castle, and the Ming army on Ryukyu Island had already sent troops.

Moreover, the troops were divided into two groups. Liu Sheng divided a thousand Ming troops and returned to Kume Island with the Han militiamen named Kumi 31.

After some supplies there, and by the way a part of the Kumihan people were separated to immigrate, they immediately took a boat south to raid the Ryukyu Miyako Islands and Yaeyama Islands.

There are only two Zaiban offices set up by the Satsuma Domain on these two archipelagos, so there is no need to attack them at all, just push them all the way.

The Thousand Ming Army was actually intended to prevent the Han Chinese named Kumi 31 from invading. It didn't matter how they bullied the local Ryukyu people in the future, but at least not now.

Liu Sheng himself led his two thousand troops, dispatched forty warships, and brought along several Kume guides who could speak Ryukyuan. The army went straight to the eight northeastern islands.

The eight northeastern islands are called Ufusema by Ryukyu and Amami Islands by Satsuma Domain.

Beyond this, there are the Seven Islands of Tokara, which is the territory of Satsuma Domain.

Yuron Island, one of the eight northeastern islands, had not yet received orders from Shimazu Yoshiki.

The entire island is very small, and the residents are basically Ryukyu natives. There is only one Samurai warrior with a few Ashigaru to guard the island, and collect the head tax for the master's family.

The poll tax was specially created by the Satsuma clan to facilitate exploitation. Ryukyu itself did not have this tax law.

When a Ming warship left the fleet and approached the island, the Satsuma clan warriors and Ashigaru on the island did not react for a while.

Only when they saw that all the people on the boat were Chinese troops wearing red leather armor did they realize the problem.

The samurai who led the group ran away without hesitation. When the remaining ashigaru saw the samurai running away, they quickly followed suit.

They ran away. When the Ming soldiers who had just landed saw this, they ignored the guides and pursued them directly under the leadership of the platoon leader.

"Bang...bang...bang!"

There was intermittent flintlock gunfire, and the Ming army, which had not been pursuing for long, returned, carrying several corpses shot by flintlock guns.

The situation on the (Oki) Nagabu Island next door was similar, except that the Satsuma clan warriors on this island were a little tougher and gathered their ashigaru to fight back.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

But he didn't even have a chance to rush to the Ming army and was shot dead by a flintlock musket.

The Ming army continued to separate warships along the road to land and sweep the small islands. The islands such as Dugu, Yulu, Wuqinu, Jiaqiluma, and Qijie were successively captured by the Ming army. There were also some uninhabited islands that the Ming army did not take care of. it.

Some of the Satsuma clan warriors and Ashigaru warriors on the island chose to escape, some took up arms to resist, and some simply knelt down and surrendered.

Regardless of the choice, however, the end result is the same.

Liu Sheng's order to his troops: "No one from the Satsuma clan who is seen holding weapons in his hand will surrender, regardless of whether he surrenders or not."

Non-my family, its heart must be different.

Liu Sheng came here for a quick victory. He didn't have the time to go to the island to recruit Japanese prisoners.

The Ming army fought all the way to Oshima (Amami) before a decent battle finally broke out.

Oshima, also known as Xiaoliuqiu, has more than [-] villages and counties with the most products. It is also the core colonial area controlled by the Satsuma clan's army to control the Amami Islands.These Satsuma clan troops have been multiplying here for nearly a hundred years, integrating farming and fighting, reaching thousands in size, and their rule has long been deeply rooted.

Liu Sheng ordered: "All troops land!"

With an order, 1500 Ming soldiers quickly landed at several ports on small landing warships.

The main landing target is located in the northeastern port, which has the largest cultivated land area and the largest population.

Under the leadership of Kume's guide, the Ming army penetrated directly into the settlement of Satsuma clan soldiers.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Ming warships bombarded all the tallest buildings near the port without warning. No matter whether they were Satsuma clan members or not, they were definitely the island's ruling elite.

The Satsuma clan people on the big island knew that the Chinese army had invaded Ryukyu, but they had not yet received the order from Shimazu Yoshiki.

Even the Satsuma clan's fleet hadn't even been assembled, and the Ming army came over without any warning.

"Boom boom boom!"

Under the continuous shelling, all the nearby Ryukyu natives fled in panic, and the tallest and luxurious buildings on the island were constantly blown down by the shells.

The Satsuma clan people inside hurriedly rushed out of the house, shouting noisily in Japanese dialect, trying to gather troops to resist.

But the Ming army's artillery was just a cover, and the 1500 army soldiers had already rushed to the settlement.

Not to mention using their "local advantage", these Satsuma clan soldiers gathered the Ryukyu native soldiers on the island to help in the battle, and even their own troops were not able to give orders.

Integrating farming and fighting is indeed the most economical way to raise troops, but it is just like the Ming Dynasty's guard system.

Let the soldiers cultivate the land, and then they will really become farmers.

These Satsuma clan soldiers stationed on the big island usually killed Ryukyu natives who could not pay taxes. They had not fought in a war for almost decades. Even the armor and weapons in their hands were passed down from their ancestors.

The 1500 people in the Ming army were all professional soldiers, and they had fought with real swords and guns in Taiwan Mansion against the rebel bandits who had a history with Taitung and had rebelled against them.

The Ming army is neat and orderly, but the Satsuma domain soldiers are in a messy formation, and they have not yet completed their formation.

As soon as the two armies engaged in battle, Liu Sheng gave the order: "The Fire Gun Battalion comes forward."

"Get ready, carry the blunderbuss!"

"aim!"

"shooting!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The shouts were all in Chinese, so the Japanese on the other side naturally couldn’t understand them, let alone avoid them.

After a volley of guns went down, the Satsuma clan's military formation fell to one row, then two, and three.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

All three volleys of flintlock muskets were fired, and the Satsuma clan's military formation began to become more and more turbulent.

Liu Sheng ordered again: "Grenadiers come forward."

"preparation!"

"Light it up, throw it!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Violent explosions occurred one after another in the chaotic military formation of the Satsuma Domain, giving these Satsuma Domain troops no time to react.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The Ming army's grenadiers threw two consecutive waves of grenade hammers, which caused violent explosions and finally completely destroyed the Satsuma clan's army.

The motley army of the Satsuma Domain, which numbered only a thousand men, had lost more than [-]% of its troops before they could engage in battle.

Especially if he was killed by a completely unknown weapon like a grenade hammer, how the hell could he fight like this?
The Japanese on the island do have firecrackers, but they are all matchlocks, or old matchlocks passed down from their ancestors.

It's not that the Satsuma clan didn't have money to replace these guns. It was simply that no one thought that enemies would attack here from the south.

Liu Sheng, who was in front of the formation to take command, immediately drew his sword and shouted: "The whole army attacks!"

The fire gun soldier then put the fire gun on his back, pulled out his sword, and together with the grenadiers who also drew their swords and charged, they followed the friendly troops in front and launched a charge towards the enemy.

The whole army collapsed.

The Ming army continued to kill in the rout for half a day before the battle finally ended.

Crushing, crushing completely.

　We have to get over this quickly.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)