Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 371 Channels
Satsuma Domain, Tsurumaru Castle, this is the main castle of the Satsuma clan
In the evaluation room, the Lord of Satsuma, Shimazu Mitsuhisa, sat at the top, and the three family elders, Shimazu Hisamichi, Shinna Hisaaki, and Ise Sadaki, knelt on both sides below.
Ise Sadaki was reporting the details of his trip to the people in the room.

"There are at least 500 elite warriors with armor from the Ming Dynasty on the Ryukyu Islands, all of whom are wearing Ming Dynasty copper-studded cloth armor."

"These Ming armors look like cloth on the surface, but they are actually embedded with large iron plates. According to Kamada's report, these armors weigh dozens of pounds and are difficult to be damaged by swords. If you chop them hard, you can even break the swords."

"The King of Ryukyu has rebelled against our Satsuma Domain. When I entered the port, in addition to the Ming soldiers, there were more than a thousand Ryukyu native soldiers on the shore. Although these people had no armor, they all held Ming-style spears and swords. They must have been sent by the Ming people."

"The most worrying thing is the Ming warships. The Ming people brought three large ships this time, each of which is equipped with more than 30 large iron cannons. The three large ships alone have nearly a hundred cannons."

"In addition, the Ming people also set up artillery defenses in various ports of Ryukyu. These Ming artillery have a range of four or five miles, just like the huge cannons on the Nanman merchant ships. One shot can destroy the shielding of the warship."

"The lost Xiaozao ship was outside Yuntian Port and was destroyed by two iron bullets fired by the Ming people. The Ming people have a strong military force and must be treated with caution."

The family elder in charge of military affairs, Shinna Hisaaki, heard what was said, but snorted coldly and said

"How dare the Ming people destroy my Satsuma warships? This is a declaration of war against me!"

"Lord, these Ming people knew that Ryukyu was our territory, yet they still dared to seize it. It's really hateful."

"The three large ships of the Ming people can only carry about 700 to 800 people across the sea, but my Satsuma family has 20,000 samurai. Please ask the feudal lord to order the troops to gather. I will lead the army immediately to destroy the Ming thieves and take back Ryukyu!"

Shimazu Mitsuhisa, wearing a shoulder robe, remained silent, but at this time, the chief family elder Shimazu Hisamichi spoke in a deep voice

"The domain's finances have been in deficit for years, and now the debt has exceeded 500,000 taels. The shogunate has issued a strict order that the required stone materials and labor must be delivered on time this year without any delay."

"The domain has borrowed too much money in Edo in recent years. Our Satsuma domain can no longer borrow money from merchants in Edo Castle. Our domain alone is no longer able to support another expedition."

The Edo Shogunate established its capital in Edo. Previously, Edo Castle was just a swamp, but it suddenly became the capital of the Shogunate, so it was natural to build a large-scale

The castle tower of the Tokugawa family, the moat that guards the castle, and the government offices of the shogunate all need to be rebuilt.

Large-scale construction is bound to cost a lot of money and manpower. If the entire Edo Castle was built by the Tokugawa family, the shogunate's treasury would probably be exhausted before it was half built.
What to do then? Naturally, all the feudal lords in the world should contribute money to build the
The so-called universal labor service was that the shogunate formulated a construction plan, and then each feudal domain in the country contributed money, manpower and materials according to the land area they owned to build the various projects of Edo Castle for the shogunate. This was actually forced labor assigned by the shogunate to each feudal domain.
The daimyo of each domain not only had to provide money and craftsmen, but also had to transport the wood and stone materials needed for the project from their own territory to Edo Castle, and then complete the project on time and in full under the supervision of the shogunate.
Satsuma Domain was located in the southernmost part of Japan. It took almost half of Japan to transport the materials needed to build the city from Satsuma to Edo Castle.
Compared with the other feudal domains near Edo Castle, the Satsuma Domain had to pay several times more to transport the same stone to Edo.
The shogunate took the matter of the universal application very seriously. If a daimyo delayed the project, he would be immediately deprived of his fiefdom by the Edo shogunate for disrespect.
In order to avoid being caught by the shogunate, Satsuma Domain had to borrow money continuously to complete the construction tasks assigned by the shogunate. As a result, Satsuma Domain became heavily in debt.

Shinna Kyushu thought for a moment and then said

"What the Ming people seized was not only our Satsuma territory, but also the Japanese territory."

"Isn't the Tokugawa family known as the king of the world? Now that the Ming people are attacking, they can't just sit there and do nothing, right? Why don't we borrow the power of the shogunate at this time?"

A hint of sternness flashed in Xin Na Jiuqian's eyes, and he spoke again

"Although Satsuma has controlled Ryukyu for decades, it is ultimately not legitimate."

"Since the Ming people started this matter themselves, we have nothing to worry about. After the shogunate drives away those Ming people, we can officially incorporate the Ryukyu land into the territory of our Satsuma family."

Shimazu Mitsuhisa heard this and a hint of interest flashed across his face. In the last war against Ryukyu, the only island that Satsuma had ceded through the treaty was Amami Island.

Although the Ryukyu Islands and Sakishima Islands were under the jurisdiction of Satsuma at this time, they were not actually Satsuma territory.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa thought for a moment, but soon shook his head slightly and said

"Don't dream about it. The shogunate will never allow Satsuma to completely annex Ryukyu."

The reason why the shogunate agreed to let Satsuma control Ryukyu was to use Ryukyu to obtain goods from the Central Plains.
However, as the Ming Dynasty relaxed its maritime ban, more and more private merchants from the Ming Dynasty brought goods to Japan, and Ryukyu became less and less important to the shogunate.
Satsuma was originally the second largest vassal of the Ishigaki region. After the shogunate gained access to the supply channels of goods from the Central Plains, it became more and more wary of the Satsuma family that occupied Ryukyu.

The shogunate was reluctant to let Satsuma give up Ryukyu due to the previous agreement.

However, if the shogunate really sent troops to drive away the Ming people this time, even if the shogunate officially removed the Ryukyu Kingdom, it would never allow Satsuma to occupy the Ryukyu Kingdom again.
In the eyes of the Tokugawa family, these foreign daimyo were real traitors. They would reduce their fiefs and move their fiefdoms as soon as they had the chance. How could they allow the Shimazu family to continue to grow? Going to war at this time would not benefit the Shimazu family at all. Although the Ming people occupied the main island of Ryukyu, Satsuma also controlled Amami Sakishima and other places.
Once the shogunate intervenes, Satsuma may completely lose control of Ryukyu.
When Shimazu Mitsuhisa thought of this, he completely gave up the idea of ​​starting a war. He looked at Ise Sadaki below and said:

"Are those Ming people really planning to purchase large quantities of copper?"

"I have sent people to Nagasaki to investigate. Last year, the Ming people did buy more than one million kilograms of copper from Nagasaki."

"The Ming court's envoy Zhu Zhiyu has promised that if Satsuma can sell copper at the price of 100 catties and 5 ounces, the Ming people can purchase more than 500,000 catties of copper from the feudal domain this year."

"This is the raw silk that Zhu Zhiyu gave to me. Although it is called a gift, it is a sample provided by the Ming court. Zhu Zhiyu has already agreed that in the future, these Central Plains goods can be exchanged for copper materials from the vassal states."

Ise Sadaki gave an order to the samurai outside the room, and soon several samurai brought several pieces of silk cotton cloth, several blue and white teacups and porcelain bowls, and a basin of raw silk into the room.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa looked at the emerald green brocade with four-season flowers on the table, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. Even in Edo, he had not seen such exquisite fabrics for a long time.

Compared with these Ming Dynasty brocades, the brocades produced in the country are simply not up to par.
Shimazu Hisamitsu took a bunch of raw silk from the basin. The silk was fine and long, each strand was distinct, and the color was as white as snow.

Shimazu Hisamitsu couldn't help but sigh.

"As expected of the Ming envoys, this is the best silk from the Central Plains. What are those things that the feudal domain bought back before?"

Although Satsuma gained the opportunity to trade with the Ming Dynasty by controlling Ryukyu, the goods purchased from the Central Plains by Ryukyu over the years were difficult to describe.
The raw silk brought back by the Ryukyu delegation was either soaked in water or mixed with foreign matter, or was of poor quality and yellowed and dark, which also made the Satsuma domain's annual income from maritime trade unsatisfactory.
The raw silk purchased by the Ryukyu delegation was of poor quality. On the one hand, it was because the Ryukyu envoys passively resisted. Anyway, the Ryukyu envoys could not touch the goods bought back, so they would not pay attention to these Satsuma goods.
On the other hand, it was because the market conditions were like this at the time. Even if Japan sent people to buy, it would most likely only buy some inferior goods.
The raw silk produced by the Ming Dynasty was not only bought by Japan, but also by all the sea merchants in Luzon, Batavia, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the South China Sea, who were all rushing to buy the silk from the Central Plains.

The finest silk products were in great demand even within the Ming Dynasty, not to mention being exported.
After satisfying the domestic needs of the Ming Dynasty, wasn't there only some low-quality raw silk left, which was then sold to foreign merchants?
In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyu people were also barbarians.

Ise Sadaki also spoke at this time

"I have already consulted with Tang merchants and found that these are all Hu silk produced in Jiangnan, Ming Dynasty. Even in Ming Dynasty, they are top-quality goods."

"This kind of raw silk can be sold at a high price of five or six hundred taels per load in Edo. In previous years, we bought three or four loads of silk to be worth one load of this Hu silk."

"Zhu Zhiyu is an official of the Ming Dynasty. If you want to buy the best goods in the Central Plains, you still have to rely on these Ming people."

"The goods from the Central Plains that Nagasaki has obtained are all of inferior quality. If the domain can establish contact with the Ming court and open up this trade route, then my Satsuma domain will have an endless supply of goods in the future..."

Ise Sadaki was very excited when he heard this. Satsuma Mitsuhisa suddenly interrupted him and said:

"The domain is already in debt of several hundred thousand taels, and the people are exhausted. We can no longer afford to borrow money to survive."

"The Ming people have brought three ships. They still have at least one or two thousand dan of raw silk. We must immediately organize people to mobilize copper materials in the vassal state. We must seize all the silk in the hands of the Ming people!"

Ten years ago, the shogunate declared a closed-door policy after the Shimabara Rebellion, forcibly closing all ports in the country, leaving only Nagasaki as a trading port.
The shogunate made a lot of money every year by buying low and selling high in the country through the privilege of Nagasaki Port.

If Satsuma could secretly establish this maritime trade channel, then Satsuma could secretly reap a large amount of maritime trade profits just like the shogunate.

Moreover, Satsuma had a ready cover for doing this. Satsuma controlled Ryukyu and was one of the few vassal states that could legally possess Ming goods.

After smuggling goods from the Ming Dynasty, they can be laundered in an instant by claiming that these goods were obtained through Ryukyu and trade with the Ming Dynasty.
If this smuggling channel is established, Satsuma Domain will not only be able to solve the current predicament of the Domain, but also secretly accumulate huge financial resources through maritime trade.
The land in Ryukyu is barren, and the only thing it can produce is rice. However, when these Ryukyu rice are transported to Satsuma by sea, they often lose nearly half of their value.
For Satsuma, if they could establish a trade channel directly to the Ming Dynasty, then giving up Ryukyu would not be a big deal.

The several family elders below were silent after hearing this. All three of them were family elders from Satsuma and they knew the situation in the domain.
In order to complete the labor service assigned by the shogunate, the domain had a deficit every year. The domain's foreign debt of more than 500,000 taels, the annual interest alone, was an extremely large sum.
If this continues, Satsuma will not be able to repay the principal, let alone pay the annual interest.
There was silence in the room for a while, then Shinna Hisaaki suddenly spoke up.

"The Ming people are now openly stationing troops in Ryukyu. This news must be hidden. We can choose not to fight, but how can we explain it to the shogunate?"

Shimazu Hisamichi and his men also frowned slightly. They could give up Ryukyu, but they could not control the actions of the shogunate. If the shogunate insisted on fighting, they could not stop it.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa glanced at the people in the field and said softly
"Send a letter to the shogunate, saying that Satsuma has summoned the samurai and asks the shogunate to send troops immediately to fight the Ming people."

Shimazu Hisamichi and his companions were stunned at first, but soon reacted. Several family elders looked at Shimazu Mitsuhisa, who looked calm, with a hint of admiration in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)