The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 428
Naha is a natural safe haven with excellent hydrological conditions, and it is also the most important supply port on the maritime trade line between Ming and Japan, so it is also quite prosperous.

Basically, it is comparable to the wealthier fishing villages in Suzhou and Hangzhou.

There are many merchant ships parked at the port, and a large number of barefoot laborers on the dock are moving the goods between the ship and the warehouse, which is a busy scene.

In the inner part of the port, many shops were built, and the main street paved with rammed earth was full of hawkers.The rarest and most expensive goods in Ryukyu are gathered here, and most of the people who can come here to shop are famous people in Ryukyu.

From the east, a group of people kicked clogs and walked leisurely along the street with figure eight steps.This group of people wore loose kimonos, Japanese-style Japanese swords and wakizashis. They all shaved the hair in the middle of their heads and combed the hair on their cheeks neatly, which looked extremely weird.

The leader is the Yokome of Zaibanbushi, who is based in Ryukyu in Japan, who is also in charge, and his name is Kawakami Youhei.

As the native emperor of Naha, his greatest pleasure every day is to walk around the lively port, show his authority in front of the Ryukyu "natives", "catch" some valuable goods by the way, or tease a little girl passing by .

But today his good mood came to an end. Two Ryukyu officials who maintained order in the port came trotting over, first bowed vigorously, and then whispered something in his ear.

"A giant businessman from the Ming Dynasty wants to see me?" Kawakami Youhei gave the small official a slap, "Baga! I am a 'non-existent person' in Ryukyu, how can I meet Ming people?!"

Speaking of which, Japan was also afraid of being beaten in the Wanli War to Aid Korea, so even though it occupied Ryukyu by force at this time, considering that it is a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, it has never dared to let Ming know publicly.In the past, officials from the Ming Dynasty passed by Ryukyu, but they kept it secret, and only local officials from Ryukyu came forward to deal with it.

Due to the occlusion of information in the seventeenth century, the Japanese had occupied Ryukyu for 14 years by the second year of Longwu, but the Ming Dynasty never knew about it.However, given the chaotic situation in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, even if they knew about it, there was nothing they could do.

Japan has always been entrenched in Ryukyu in history. After the fall of Ming Dynasty, the Qing court did not care about Ryukyu at all.So after more than 200 years of infiltration and assimilation, even the Ryukyu people themselves have no idea of ​​resistance.

But as a latecomer, Zhu Linmi knew the situation in Ryukyu very well.This is a transfer station for Sino-Japanese trade, and it is an important military base during naval battles. Therefore, we must not sit back and watch the Japanese annex it.

It's just that Ming's main energy right now is to drive out the Tartars, but it doesn't take much effort to drive a wedge here in advance, and to provoke the relationship between the Japanese central and local governments by the way.

The Ryukyu official covered his face and said aggrievedly: "My lord, I said that I didn't know there was such a person as you, but the Ming merchant specified that he wanted to see Yokome, who was in charge of Ryukyu, and said that he wanted to have a deal with the Shimadzu family who was in charge of Ryukyu. Big business. He also said that if I don’t pass the word on, he will take people directly to the execution office.”

Kawakami was startled when he heard the words, and wondered why this Mingren was so clear about the Ryukyu matter?Not only did he know that there was Zai Fan Xing, but he also knew that Ryukyu was controlled by the Shimadzu family!If so, I have to meet him.

Naha Zaiban Monastery is a two-story building made of stone strips, which is very Japanese-style.

Dressed up as a merchant, Shi Lang looked up at the Japanese writing on the wooden plaque at the door, waved to more than a dozen navy infantry soldiers behind him wearing servant clothes, and walked in with the small official who led the way.

Chuan Shang looked him up and down, but opened his mouth in fluent Daming Mandarin, "Your Excellency want to see me?"

Since ancient times, Ryukyu has regarded Ming as the suzerain state, and even the imperial examinations have to take Chinese. Therefore, Kawakami has been in Ryukyu for a long time, and he is proficient in Chinese.

"Oh, I have a deal to discuss with you. It's best to call Naba Guan." Shi Lang glanced at him carelessly again, "Who are you from the Shimadzu family?"

This "Naha official" is the local official of Naha, and is also the highest-level official appointed by the Ryukyu people, but the officials who are further up are appointed by the Japanese Zaiban.

Kawakami hesitated for a moment, and motioned to his subordinates, "Ask Weng Dingdong to come here." Then he bowed slightly to Shi Lang, "I am the eldest son of the head of the Kawakami family, a commoner of the Satsuma domain.

"I don't know how your Excellency found out about Zaiban Fengxing and Satsuma Domain?"

Shi Lang didn't answer him, but said: "I'm the shopkeeper of Zhejiang Zhangji, and I have a proposal - in the future, except for me, all merchant ships going to Japan to sell silk are not allowed to stop at Naha. In return, I will give you a gift every year. The Shimadzu family has 1 taels of silver."

"How is this possible?" Kawakami immediately lowered his face, "The Sino-Japanese silk business is worth millions of taels every year, how can you let it be monopolized by yourself?!"

With the navigation technology of this era, if there is no resupply on the way from the southeast coast of Ming Dynasty to Japan, it means that a lot of food and fresh water will be brought, but the cargo carried will be greatly reduced, and the cost will even increase by more than [-]%.

After the Shimadzu family occupied Ryukyu, they collected tens of thousands of taels of tolls in Naha every year, and the silk business was the largest among them.

"I'm not discussing with you." Shi Lang said proudly, "Go and tell Shimadzu Mitsuhisa, if my request is not met, the Ming court will know about your invasion of the Ryukyu Zhongshan Kingdom. At that time, the court will not directly send military aid Liu, but it is inevitable to stop trade with Japan in anger."

It happened that Naba official Weng Dingdong entered the house, he was shocked to hear this and stood still, and bowed to Chuan Shang after a while, saying: "I have seen you."

Chuan Shang's face became even darker, he pointed at Shi Lang and said, "You dare to threaten me?!"

"Yes, I'm just threatening you, what's the matter?"

Kawakami choked for a long time before recovering, nodded helplessly and said: "Okay, I will convey the message to the feudal lord. You wait for a few days, and I will notify you as soon as Kagoshima has a reply."

Shi Lang seemed to have a plan in mind, he got up and left after hearing this, "Don't make me wait too long."

Seeing that Weng Dingdong had sent "Treasurer Zhang Ji" out of the enforcing office, a family member in Chuan Shang immediately turned around and said, "My lord, why don't you kill this profiteer immediately?"

"What's the rush?" Kawakami's eyes were cold, "This person may be just a stand-in. They have a big boat docked in the harbor. These people and the boat must be removed together!"

He went to the port to check the "merchant ship" on the record, but he was shocked. He saw that the ship was more than twice the size of the largest house ship in his hand, with a mast soaring into the sky, and there were nearly ten doors on both sides of the deck. cannon.

In fact, what he saw were only the small-caliber guns and Francois machine guns on the open deck of Guangsignal. If he saw the heavy guns on the gun deck, he would probably be too scared to do anything.

"Our ship may not be its opponent." Kawakami then looked at the Yaliangzuo Sencheng Fort guarding the port, and said to the general, "Try to lure it to the vicinity of the fort."

"Hi!"

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(End of this chapter)