The Great Bandit in Kangxi Year

Chapter 208 Ryukyu Mansion

Within a few days, Joseph came to Hangzhou with hundreds of warships and merchant ships.

Facing the indifference of the officials in charge of trade with the Netherlands, Joseph had been prepared and led the guards to Jiangning calmly.

Although Jiang Tao didn't want to see him very much, he still saw him at the first time, but he roared: "Mr. Joseph, you let me down very much. Our friendship is over. Come and see off."

Joseph shrugged innocently, and said with a wry smile: "Dear king, please calm down. A while ago, the Dutch fleet and the Philippine fleet fought a few times. My Dutch Far East fleet has been busy bombarding the ports of the Philippines. It is really powerless to stop the huge Portuguese fleet. I am really sorry. , However, if the Portuguese still dare to make trouble, your friend will definitely not stand idly by."

Jiang Tao clearly knew that the other party was trying to shirk, but he couldn't do anything about the other party. After all, the other party was stuck in the empire's trade, and there were thousands of craftsmen and naval officers on the other party's territory, so the empire must gain control of the Strait of Malacca. But right now, there is more than enough energy.

Jiang Tao intentionally glared like a King Kong, and snorted heavily, but just radiated eyes that could kill people, and stared at the other party.

Joseph couldn't feel it, he dodged his eyes, and said with a smile: "The king's navy showed its skills and defeated the Portuguese expeditionary fleet. It is really gratifying."

"You bastard, my king's Black Dragon Fleet has lost more than a hundred warships, tell me, what is there to be happy about!"

Jiang Tao shouted and cursed directly.

Joseph was immediately embarrassed, and he didn't dare to speak back, but he was secretly delighted that Mr. Speaker's plan really worked. At this time, both Portugal and the Black Dragon Fleet suffered losses, which greatly benefited the interests of the Netherlands.

It took him a long time to calm down, and he said calmly: "Respected king, this commander is here to give gold and silver to the king, you should be able to calm down."

"Hmph, you are not honest partners, so I decided to increase the price of all goods by [-]%." Jiang Tao was so angry that these damned Dutchmen almost made him unable to pay his military salary. If he hadn't sold some of the treasures himself, the consequences Unbelievable.

"This!" Joseph's expression became serious, and he said alarmistly: "Dear King, William III is strengthening the strength of the Dutch Far East Fleet. Changing the agreement without permission may cause bad consequences!"

"Hey, that's good!" Jiang Tao smiled instead of anger, and said unkindly: "I hate others to threaten me the most. If I want to start a war, I will accompany you at any time, but presumably Britain and France will care about the monopoly trade of the Ming Empire, hehe, Get out of here, old man."

Joseph had had enough, King Huaxing was really rude, but he really didn't dare to go to war with the Ming Empire, so he could only bear it, because if he couldn't defeat the opponent's 150 million army, he couldn't make the Ming Empire surrender. Observing over time, I found that King Huaxing is definitely a militant. If you provoke him, the Dutch trade in East Asia will become zero. This is something that no Dutchman can bear. Will be a poor scapegoat.

It may also lead to the fourth Anglo-Dutch war. For the monopoly trade of the Eastern Empire, the hateful British will definitely take action, and the French will not stand idly by. The huge war military expenditure will definitely drag down the development of the Netherlands. It is not good. The United Provinces and William III will definitely not support themselves.

Joseph knew that Nicholas was playing too much, so he quickly smiled and said with a light smile: "Your country's navy officers and shipbuilders have a good life in the Netherlands, but they miss the king very much."

Jiang Tao couldn't hear the threat in Joseph's tone, and said with a sneer: "This king has tens of millions of people, and this king will never affect the decision-making of the entire empire because of thousands of people. Just do what you want. hey-hey."

"This!" Joseph had no bargaining chips, his face suddenly turned blue and uncertain, and he softened after a while: "The price this time is up to the king. After all, we have a deep friendship. Next time we must follow the original price. Otherwise, it’s not up to the commander of the Far East Fleet.”

"Very good, this is just like a friend. I still have important things to do. Mr. Major General, please do your own thing." Jiang Tao was actually uneasy in his heart, and he didn't dare to push them too hard. It can be said that both parties had scruples, so The way of pushing the boat along the water.

If the trade is delayed due to this matter, it will be really difficult for the Ming Empire to sustain itself.

After this incident, Jiang Tao became more determined. He must strengthen the strength of the naval fleet. He hoped that Shi Lang would be able to open up business routes to South America, and he would not be so passive by then.

A few days later, good news came from the Ministry of Household Affairs. The treasury increased by 200 million taels, mainly because this time Jiang Tao bought nothing but [-] western war horses, so he made a fortune.

Jiang Tao was overjoyed, this time he finally had the money to go to war again.

Ten days later, Ryukyu Wang Shangzhen walked into the meeting hall of Huaxing Palace trembling.

I saw that he was only in his 20s, and instead of wearing royal robes, he was wearing ordinary people's clothes, with thorns on his back, kneeling on the ground suddenly and saying: "The Qing Dynasty has no way, and Shang Zhen deserves a thousand crimes for relying on it to restore the country." Death, from the ruler down to the people of our country, life after life, I am grateful for the kindness of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. At this time, I am here to take the blame and pay more and more tribute every year."

"Hehe, please get up quickly, come here, and give me a seat." Jiang Tao smiled lightly, thought about it, and said tentatively: "Daming's restoration of the country has absolutely no intention of embarrassing the King of Ryukyu, but this king wants to be in Naha, Naze and other places build military bases and military ports, and send troops to garrison them in order to fight against Japan. I wonder if the Ryukyu King will agree?"

Shang Zhen was dumbfounded when she heard the words. He had come to see King Huaxing with the attitude of mortal death, and he had even prepared for the funeral. , was repeatedly harassed by Japanese pirates.

The people of Ryukyu hated Japan very much. As long as the Ming Empire attacked Japan, Shang Zhen raised her hands in support, and quickly replied: "My lord is mighty, there is nothing wrong with my country, but my lord has orders. Shang Zhen will go through fire and water, and I will never say anything."

This time it was Jiang Tao's turn to be dumbfounded, and he didn't expect the other party to agree so readily.

In fact, he didn't know that since the fifth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1372), the Ryukyu Kingdom has been using Chinese reign names and following the Chinese Zhengshuo. (Until the fifth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1879), Japan forcibly "abolished Ryukyu and set up the county") The official documents, diplomatic treaties, and official history of the Ryukyu Kingdom were all written in Chinese.Even the palaces in its capital, Shurijo Castle, are not facing south, but facing west, fully expressing its admiration for China.The Ryukyu people also do business with the Japanese, but whenever Chinese envoys come to Ryukyu, they must ban pseudonyms, waka, Kanei Tongbao (Japanese currency), and wear Tang clothes instead.

Ryukyu also cooperates with China to fight against the Japanese. It is recorded in "History of the Ming Dynasty". For example, in the 36th year of Jiajing (1557), "First, the Japanese pirates were defeated from Zhejiang and arrived in the territory of Ryukyu. His son Shangyuan sent troops to invite them to attack them, and they were plundered by China. The six of them will be sent back."

"Very good!" Jiang Tao was overjoyed, but with Shang Zhen's cooperation, his strategy could not be used. He wanted to completely occupy Ryukyu. Such a small country can easily be swallowed. One-third of Ryukyu's people are Chinese. The official language of the opponent is Chinese, and it is easy to bring Ryukyu into the embrace of the empire.

And I heard from Liu Guoxuan that sugar cane and pineapple are two major specialties of Ryukyu, and sweet potatoes are also produced.There are also many pigs and cattle.The off-shore fishery is developed, and the people are far more prosperous than the northern provinces. They are directly included in the arms of the empire, and will not drag the empire down, nor will they involve land disputes in the future.

Jiang Tao suddenly became uncertain, and it was not good to say it directly. For a while, Shang Zhen stopped smiling and stood up at a loss. He heard that King Huaxing murdered people like hemp, and his temper was very bad. Could it be that he said What's wrong?
Cheng Zhang was accompanying him at this time, seeing this, he couldn't stop laughing to himself, coughed and said: "My lord, the Ryukyu king is here for the first time, why don't we let him play around for a while."

"Well, that's fine!" Jiang Tao winked at Chengzhang and left the meeting room directly.

Three days later, the cabinet announced a major event: "The Kingdom of Ryukyu was merged into Daming, changed to Ryukyu Prefecture, and belonged to Fujian Province. The original Ryukyu king Shangzhen Zhongyong ruled the country and was named Ryukyu King. It can be hereditary. The salary is [-]% of the Ryukyu Prefecture's tax revenue. One, whose nationals are treated the same as nationals of the Empire."

Jiang Tao got rid of his heart disease, and Shang Zhen also happily returned to Shuri Castle. King Huaxing rewarded him this time with ten thousand taels of gold, ten gems, and countless silks.

In fact, he knew that if he didn't take the initiative to hand over the Ryukyu Kingdom, he would die a miserable death, and the Japanese pirates repeatedly violated the border.

..........
When the news was sent back to Ryukyu, everyone reacted differently, with joy and sorrow.

However, I heard that apart from the bulk commercial tax, other miscellaneous taxes will be exempted for three years, and the common people have no objection.

The ministers tried it out for three years, and all those with poor performance were dismissed. The ministers dared not say anything more. After all, the Ryukyu King agreed, and the troops of the Ming Empire had already landed and received troops from the islands.

Isn't it just looking for trouble by making irresponsible remarks at this time?

PS: Please recommend tickets and collections, the second update
(End of this chapter)