Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 368 Royal Power
In Naha Castle, hundreds of soldiers in red armor marched through the streets and drove out of the city in the face of the terrified eyes of the people in the city.

The Ming Dynasty envoys had a total of 900 soldiers available at this time, 300 of whom were full-time combat soldiers, and the remaining 600 were oarsmen and helmsmen on the ship.

Zhu Zhiyu ordered Lin Cha to lead 300 people to stay in Naha to guard the prisoners, and the remaining 500 people, led by Zhu Zhiyu, marched towards the Shuri Palace.
Shuri Castle, guarding the Rei-no-Kuni-mon Gate. Five hundred soldiers in armor lined up in two rows and entered the castle from the front of the gate.

Shang Zhi and a group of Ryukyu ministers stood on the palace wall, looking at the red-armored soldiers marching below, all with silent expressions.
In the inner hall of the palace, only Shang Zhi, Zhu Zhiyu, Cai Jian and a few others were left. Xiang Guoqi, Ma Jiamei and other Ryukyu law officials, as well as Xiang Xiangxian and others, were nowhere to be seen.

Shang Zhi looked at Zhu Zhiyu, who was wearing a bright red official robe, and asked in a deep voice:

"May I ask Lord Zhu, what is the current situation of Shang Sheng and Kamada Sakyo?"

"Shangsheng and Kamata are both fine. They are both imprisoned in Naha Castle. We only killed some stubborn Japanese soldiers last night. King Zhongshan does not need to worry."

Shang Zhi's face relaxed slightly when he heard this, and he asked again

"What is the purpose of your visit?"

"To station troops in Ryukyu"

Shang Zhi looked at Zhu Zhiyu, who looked calm, and was about to ask again, but Ma Zongyi, who was standing beside him, stopped him with his hand.

The people have been arrested and the soldiers have entered the palace. It is meaningless to ask the reason at this time. Ma Zongyi said in a deep voice
"What exactly is Zhu going to do now?"

"We are here only to station troops, not to start a war with the Japanese. I will release Kamada back to Satsuma later. I will make this clear.
"But the Japanese are vicious and cunning. The Satsuma and other Japanese may not give up easily. Please ask the King of Zhongshan to issue a royal order immediately to recruit soldiers in the country to resist the invaders."

Ma Zongyi and others also realized at this time that the people of the Ming Dynasty had never expected the Japanese to accept the stationing of troops.

Satsuma has controlled Ryukyu for decades. Who would easily spit out the meat that has been swallowed?
Zhu Zhiyu and others killed Kamata and others in order to cut off Ryukyu's retreat, force Ryukyu onto Ming warships, and drag Ryukyu to fight against Satsuma together.

This matter is naturally good for the Ming Dynasty, but it is of no benefit to Ryukyu at all. Once the two sides go to war in Ryukyu, no matter who wins or loses, Ryukyu will inevitably suffer heavy losses.
Seeing that Shang Zhi and the other man were silent, Zhu Zhiyu suddenly spoke

"After all, Ryukyu is the land of the King of Zhongshan. Is the King of Zhongshan willing to be a puppet of the Japanese forever?"

"If a war really breaks out this time, the war will be commanded by our Ming army. Your Majesty only needs to recruit soldiers, and the Ming army will also be responsible for all the armor and weapons needed."

Shang Zhi was stunned when he heard this, and said

"Master Zhu can provide weapons and equipment to the country."

Zhu Zhiyu laughed softly when he heard this.

"Why not? My Great Ming is not Satsuma. Satsuma controlled Ryukyu because they coveted the rice produced in Ryukyu. But for my Great Ming, the rice produced in Ryukyu is nothing."

"I, the Ming Dynasty, am here only to escort the garrison. Ryukyu is the kingdom of your Shang family. You will have to defend it by yourselves. What do you think, King Zhongshan?"

Shang Zhi heard this, but a trace of desire flashed in his eyes. If there was a choice, who would be willing to be a puppet?

Since Satsuma took control of Ryukyu, it has supported the three regents to control the government. Most of the annual taxes collected by the country are transferred to Satsuma. The Shang family is called the lord of the country, but they are dependent on others for everything.

The decline of the royal family's power is ultimately due to the fact that they have no military power to protect themselves and can only be slaughtered by others.
The Ming court armed the Ryukyu Islands at this time in order to fight against Satsuma, but the Zhongshan royal family also took the opportunity to regain control of the military.
Zhu Zhiyu looked at Shang Zhi, who looked eager, and a smile flashed in his eyes. He spoke again

"King Zhongshan should know that not every prince in the Ming Dynasty is as willing to go overseas as His Royal Highness Gui Jianguo. If you miss this opportunity, your Ryukyu will probably be a slave to the Japanese forever."

Cai Jian, who was standing aside, looked at Zhu Zhiyu with a smile on his face, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. He vaguely remembered that not long ago, someone seemed to have said the same thing to him, and it was precisely because of these words that he, the Kume clan, was lured onto the pirate ship.

On the throne, Shang Zhi heard the word "slave" and a hint of determination finally flashed in his eyes. Given the temperament of the Japanese, even if Ryukyu stood aside and watched, there would definitely be no good results afterwards.
After Satsuma defeated the Ming people, they would only intensify their defense and oppression against Ryukyu, and would never be lenient to them. In this case, it would be better to defend against them.

Shang Zhi also spoke in a deep voice at this time

"The Japanese are unjust and have invaded our land. I am willing to gather soldiers in my country and hand them over to the heavenly soldiers of the upper country to help the upper country capture and kill the Japanese bandits." Ma Zongyi's expression changed slightly, but seeing the firmness on Shang Zhi's face, Ma Zongyi hesitated for a moment and finally did not speak.

After all, Ryukyu is the foundation of the Shang family, and at this time Ryukyu really has no better choice

Zhu Zhiyu was relieved to see Shang Zhi finally agreed, but after a brief thought, he spoke again.

"Gathering troops is a serious matter, but there is another matter that needs to be dealt with immediately."

"There are still two places where Japanese pirates exist on the Ryukyu Islands. There are 20 to 30 Japanese pirates in Urasoe Castle, and nearly 100 Japanese pirates in Nakijin Castle. In order to prevent the news from leaking, these people must be arrested immediately."

"Ryukyu doesn't need to worry about the military affairs, but right now things in Naha City are still undecided, and I am temporarily unable to get away."

"I would like to ask Lord Jin to lead the troops to capture the Japanese pirates in Urazoe, and Lord Ma to lead the troops to capture the Japanese pirates in Nakijin Castle. What do you think?"

The Ryukyu officials in the field also changed their expressions when they heard this. Zhu Zhiyu was actually still worried about them.
Jin Zhengchun was a minister second only to Cai Jian among the Kume clan, and Ma Zongyi was a close relative of Zhongshan King Shangzhi. As long as these two captured the Japanese, they would have no way out.
Jin Zhengchun and Cai Jian looked at each other and agreed directly. The Kume clan and the Ming court delegation had long been in the same boat, so there was naturally no need to hesitate at this time.
When Shang Zhi saw Jin Zhengchun agreed, he also spoke directly

"We will do as Lord Zhu said, first capture the Japanese pirates, then gather troops in the country."

In the hall, the two parties had reached an agreement, and the soldiers in the city were quickly mobilized.

Jin Zhengchun led fifty soldiers to Urasoe. All the capable foot soldiers in Urasoe Castle had been taken back to Naha by Kamada. The rest were civil servants, so sending fifty people was more than enough.

Ma Zongyi was appointed as the guardian of Beishan. He was led by the captain Zheng Shixiong and 100 soldiers and 200 soldiers to Nakijin Castle. After capturing the Japanese in the city, these people will also be stationed directly in Nakijin Castle.
The two set out in the afternoon of the same day. On the second day, news came from Urasoe Castle that all the Japanese in the city had been captured. On the fifth day, the same victory news came from Nakijin Castle.
Ma Zongyi was originally a minister of the Ryukyu court. The Nakijin Castle magistrate had no doubts about Ma Zongyi and directly let Ma Zongyi and 300 people disguised as his followers into the city.

After Ma Zongyi and his men entered the city, they raided the Satsuma soldiers' station and captured all the unprepared Satsuma soldiers.

With the capture of the two Japanese, there was no longer any Japanese on the Ryukyu Islands. After decades of invasion by Satsuma, the power of the Ryukyu Islands was finally restored to the Ryukyu court.
After the Japanese were wiped out, Shang Zhi, in the name of the King of Zhongshan, issued an order to the governors of the cities on the island, asking the Ryukyu Kingdom to gather troops.
Under the royal order and the intimidation of the Ming soldiers who came with them, the Ryukyu Kingdom quickly recruited 5,000 soldiers, 3,000 soldiers were gathered in Shuri, Naha, and 2,000 soldiers were gathered in Kijin Castle.

After the new army was assembled, the swords and spears carried by the envoys were quickly distributed to the army. Ming soldiers were sent to serve as generals, while Kume samurai were sent to serve as missionaries, responsible for paperwork and food and salary matters.

The rice grains in the Ryukyu Kingdom were continuously transported to the two city barracks, and the Ryukyu young men, under the leadership of the Ming army, immediately began to train and prepare for war.

At Naha Port, Zhu Zhiyu and Kamada Sakyo stood on the embankment. In front of them was a Japanese ship parked at the port.
Kamata Sakyo looked at the soldiers in red armor who were constantly boarding the ship on the shore, with a solemn expression on his face.
During the time Kamada Sakyo was imprisoned, he also learned from his foot soldiers how terrifying these Ming army armors were.

These Ming iron armors weighed 20 to 30 kilograms, and their protective capabilities were almost comparable to the armor worn by the generals in the domain. At the moment, he saw no less than 500 red-armored soldiers at the port alone.

Kamata Sakyo retracted his gaze and looked at Zhu Zhiyu in front of him, and spoke in a somewhat strange Chinese language.

"If the Ming court really came here for business as Lord Zhu said, they should have just said so at the beginning. Why would they have made such a fuss?"

"If I had told you directly at the beginning, would you have been as calm as you are now?"

Kamata Sakyo's face froze when he heard this. If the Ming court had really come to him like this, Kamata Sakyo's first reaction would definitely not be to cooperate.
Kamata Sakyo would first capture all these Ming people, swallow up their property, and then carefully interrogate them about their origins.

Zhu Zhiyu saw Kamata's expression, but he didn't care and said

"I have already told you the purpose of my visit to the Ming Dynasty. When you return to Satsuma, you must tell your feudal lord the truth."

"This is a win-win situation for both sides. If you really want to make peace between the two sides, you should do your best to persuade your lord."

"The boat is ready, go ahead"

Kamata Sakyo bowed to Zhu Zhiyu, then boarded the ship. The ship sailed out of Naha Port and headed all the way to Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain.

(End of this chapter)