I

Cai Jin, the chief minister of the Ryukyu Kingdom, was forced to surrender to Japan, but he kept inciting to send envoys to China.

The former Crown Prince of Ryukyu sent envoys to Nanjing to ask for the title, which was Cai Jin's first suggestion.

Because of his high official position, this guy was also listed as a criminal, but he stayed for the time being to handle the handover.

After finding the map and household register, Cai Jin introduced: "The Ryukyu puppet country has three provinces, thirty-nine prefectures, and thirty-six islands. These thirty-six islands are all overseas territories and are not under the jurisdiction of the three provinces and thirty-nine prefectures. Eight northeastern provinces The island was called Ryukyu Territory at this time, but it had been occupied by Japanese troops..."

Yuron Island was called Youron Island at this time. Oki Nagabu Island is called Nagabu Island at this time. The island of virtue was called Tugu Island at this time. Amami Oshima was called Ufushima Island at this time... These islands were all occupied by Japan, but they claimed to be Ryukyu territory.

Because this was a private act of the Satsuma clan, the Tokugawa shogunate did not know about it at all.

Li Dingguo complained: "In a country as big as sesame, there are thirty-nine prefectures and thirty-six islands."

After understanding the details, the Datong court decided to directly change the three provinces of the Ryukyu Kingdom into three towns. As for the thirty-six islands, the big island was changed to a town-level unit, and the small island was directly turned into a village.

The top priority is for all indigenous people to learn to speak Chinese.

Also, abolish the poll tax!

If the Ryukyu Han people bully the indigenous people, that will be a problem that will arise in the future. As long as Zhao Han cancels the poll tax, the Ryukyu natives will definitely return home immediately and no longer miss the Ryukyu king.

In about twenty years, when the Chinese language has become popular to a certain extent, schools will be established on various Ryukyu islands. It is impossible to build on the small islands, and there are only a few hundred people on the entire island.

At that time, the Ryukyu natives will be regarded as real citizens, and the Han people will not be allowed to bully them anymore (as for verbal bullying, they are not allowed to bully them now). Integrity inspectors will also be dispatched to severely punish a few typical cases. While protecting the indigenous people, they will also punish the 34 people.

In the next month, Li Dingguo helped Ryukyu Magistrate Zheng Shen complete the takeover of Ryukyu Island.

In addition to the county magistrate, the county magistrate, judges and officials all came from Fujian with the army. Several officials in charge, and even their families, settled directly on Ryukyu Island to divide their fields.

…

Japan, Kagoshima Castle.

Xiang Xiangxian was asking for help from the Lord of the Satsuma Domain: "Sir, please send troops immediately to save the Ryukyu Kingdom!"

Shimazu Mitsuji was silent for a long time, seeming to be thinking about whether to send troops.

Xiang Xiangxian should actually be called Shang Xiangxian, and he has not changed his surname at this time. He is a member of the Ryukyu royal family, and his current position is the lord of Yuji. He controls six counties...well, actually six villages.

This guy is a die-hard Japanese lover and has studied in Japan for several years.

Historically, he later became the Prime Minister of Ryukyu, compiled the first history book of Ryukyu, and vigorously promoted the theory that "Japan and Ryukyu share the same ancestor". Since the surname "Shang" was given by the Ming Emperor, he no longer wanted his ancestral surname and directly changed it to "Xiang".

This guy's territory is at the northeastern tip of Ryukyu.

When they heard that the Datong Army was coming to kill him, the whole family immediately fled to Japan by boat.

"grown ups!"

He knelt down to Xiangxian and loudly asked the Satsuma clan to send troops.

Shimazu Mitsu pondered for a long time, and finally said: "You should retreat first. I will give you and your family a house to settle down. As for sending troops to Ryukyu, this is a major military matter and requires long-term planning."

Xiang Xiangxian was forcibly driven away, crying bitterly as he walked away.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa also blocked the others and stayed alone in the room to meditate. China's use of troops in Ryukyu was beyond his expectation. He had discussed it with his retainers but had no countermeasures at all.

The Tokugawa shogunate was very strict with the various vassals and even built houses for them in the capital. The feudal lord's family would go to the capital to live in the capital every year, and then return to the territory regularly for management. Every time they returned to their territory, they had to report.

Whether it was collecting taxes in the Ryukyu Kingdom or occupying the eight northeastern islands of Ryukyu, the Satsuma clan did it secretly behind the shogunate's back.

If this matter breaks out, even if the Datong army does not come to kill, the Tokugawa shogunate will cause trouble for the Satsuma clan.

Tokugawa Iemitsu was too controlling. A few years ago, Satsuma Domain opened a new gold mine. What the hell did it have to do with the shogunate? They actually forced the Satsuma Domain to close the gold mines.

And as he gets older, Tokugawa Iemitsu's desire for control becomes stronger. Several ports that had been promised to be open to Chinese merchants had been closed, leaving only the outer islands of Nagasaki where trade could still take place. The purpose was simple, to facilitate the shogunate's control of foreign trade and not allow any local feudal lord to interfere.

Mitsuhisa Shimazu of the Satsuma Domain was also extremely controlling and continued to strengthen his control over the Ryukyu Kingdom, even secretly attacking Chinese merchant ships many times.

Dressing up as pirates and attacking Chinese merchant ships and robbing property is only the next best thing. Shimazu Mitsuhisa's real plan was to make the Chinese emperor hate Japanese pirates, and it would be best to introduce a sea ban policy again. As a result, Sino-Japanese trade can only use the Ryukyu Kingdom as a springboard, and he controls the Ryukyu Kingdom, which is equivalent to monopolizing Sino-Japanese trade!

Shimazu Mitsuhisa's courage only goes so far.

He dared to pretend to be a pirate and attack Chinese ships, but he would never dare to actually start a war with China. That was simply seeking death.

After thinking for a long time, Shimazu Mitsuhisa called his retainers and ordered: "Send orders to the eight Ryukyu Islands to guard the islands. If...if the Tang Dynasty sends troops, they must not admit their identity, and just say that they are ronin who escaped from Japan." If they are broken, I will treat their families well. If they dare to speak nonsense, the whole family will be executed!"

In fact, Shimazu Mitsuhisa still had a sense of luck and imagined that the Datong Army would stop as soon as it was good and would not seize the eight northeastern Ryukyu Islands by force.

How can it be?

…

Yuron Island is also known as Yoron Island in later Japan. Covering an area of ​​20.8 square kilometers, the territory is not large, but the coastline is 23.5 kilometers long. There are more than a thousand indigenous residents living on the island.

Saburo Murayama was a low-level samurai who led several ashigaru and was stationed on Yuron Island.

His real duty was to collect taxes, and every native had to pay a poll tax. The head tax was also brought by Japan, and the Ryukyu Kingdom did not collect it at all before.

On this island, rice and sugar cane can be grown, and the poll tax is naturally calculated using these two crops.

If any native dares not to pay taxes, Saburo Murayama will bring his men to chop him down with a knife!

Before Lord Satsuma's order could reach this place, the ships of the Datong Navy arrived.

One warship left the formation and sailed towards Yuron Island, while the remaining warships continued to sail northeast.

Saburo Murayama was basking in the sun on the beach when suddenly a soldier came over to report. He pointed at the sea to the west in horror: "Tang... warships of the Tang Dynasty!"

Saburo Murayama got up, looked intently, and comforted himself: "Perhaps we are taking advantage of the passage to supply supplies, not to fight."

He wouldn't be able to escape from a bigger island.

The Satsuma clan's ships would come once a year to take away the head tax received. Usually there are only small fishing boats offshore, which are used by the indigenous people for fishing. It is impossible to escape back to Japan in one sitting.

Finally, the battleship docked.

One hundred Datong soldiers and twenty sailors came to the island with guns and ammunition.

Saburo Murayama hid with his men and did not dare to investigate the situation. He only hoped that the Chinese would leave quickly.

After the Chinese soldiers disembarked, more than a dozen civilians came.

They are all Han Chinese who moved from Kume Island. The ones coming back this time are the Ruan family and the Wang family.

Youlun Island will be set up as Youlun Village. The Ruan family and the Wang family will take turns serving as village chiefs after they settle down and divide their fields. The head tax was abolished and taxes were levied on acres. Anyway, the tax amount set by the court was very low.

When they first arrived, they certainly didn't dare to mess around. At most, they could collect a little more land tax. If the islanders are forced to rebel, the Datong Army will definitely send troops to suppress them, but it is possible that they will be killed by the natives on the island before the Datong Army arrives.

The duties of the Ruan family and the Wang family were to first create households for the islanders, then teach the islanders advanced farming techniques, and then slowly teach the islanders to speak Chinese.

When they came to a village, the natives on the island were a little frightened, and they all hid in their houses and watched secretly.

Wang Shiyuan asked his wife and children to stay where they were, and asked the Datong Army to help take care of them. He went to a thatched house alone. He shouted in Ryukyuan dialect: "I am an official sent by the emperor to kill the Japanese bad guys in Satsuma Domain. From now on, you are all Chinese and you no longer need to pay the poll tax. Tell me, where are those bad guys?" "

The natives dared not speak.

After shouting several times, a native walked out of another thatched hut. He seemed to say because there were many and powerful soldiers in Datong, and they were stronger than the Japanese. Out of awe of the strong, he said: "The bad guys who collected taxes hid over there. I saw them running away."

Wang Shiyuan said: "You lead the way. If we catch the bad guys, I will reward you with a handful of food."

In order to convince the other party, Wang Shiyuan took a handful of his own rice and gave it to the native.

The natives were very happy to get the rice and immediately started to lead the way.

Saburo Murayama was going crazy. There were only a few of them, but they were rounded up by more than a hundred elite soldiers. And there is no way to escape. The natives are too familiar with the terrain and know where is the best place to hide people.

It only took half an hour for Murayama Saburo and his men to be captured.

The situation on Eirabu Island next door is similar. But this island is larger, more than four times the size of Yoron Island, and its main crop is interesting, it turns out to be potatoes from America.

A truly decent battle broke out on Ufushima Island, which is Japan's Amami Island.

The island covers an area of ​​712.48 square kilometers. The Ryukyu Kingdom has seven prefectures here, with more than 200 counties under its jurisdiction. There are 16 chiefs and more than 120 minor chiefs. Two of the great chiefs are from the Ryukyu royal family.

More than 200 people from the Satsuma clan immigrated here, and after decades of reproduction, the number has grown to more than 600 people.

These more than 600 Japanese were engaged in farming and fighting, and dozens of soldiers were trained. Five of them also had fire guns. They only collected taxes, and the detailed administrative management was still handled by the chiefs of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

The two chiefs of the Ryukyu royal family had received news of China's dispatch of troops, and even knew that the royal family would be arrested and questioned.

Therefore, the two royal chiefs took the initiative to contact the Japanese and ordered other chiefs to gather troops. They actually gathered nearly a thousand troops, armed with a variety of weapons, to resist the Datong soldiers.