There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 482 Destruction of the Country
King Sho On of Ryukyu had his tribute mission cut off by the Qing Dynasty two years prior, and was forbidden from sending official ships to the Qing. Even the officials and students he sent were trapped at the Imperial College in Beijing and could not return. They could only obtain fragmented information intermittently through merchant ships.

Moreover, his health is deteriorating. Although he is only 17 years old and has only been on the throne for a few years, he already looks like he is terminally ill.

There is no clear record of what disease he contracted, but it is speculated that it might be beriberi, which is prevalent in Japan.

Athlete's foot is not true athlete's foot, but a malignant and incurable disease that starts in the feet due to severe nutritional deficiencies caused by long-term rice consumption.

Based on the current timeline, this Ryukyu king has at most one more year to live, and should pass away next year, after which the throne will be passed on to his 2-year-old son.

King Sangseong ascended the throne at the age of two, but only lived for a few months before passing away along with his father.

King Shangwen died without an heir, and his brother Shanghao succeeded him.

Just a few words are enough to show how fierce the struggle for the throne was within this tiny country.

King Shangwen was surprised by the arrival of the Great Han angel. The ministers could only tell the king everything about the Great Han angel's official ship arriving at Kume Island and staying there for three days without leaving.

King Shang Wen understood, and then exclaimed in alarm: "Quickly...cough cough, quickly send someone to Naha Port to inform the Satsuma Domain's magistrate."

Although King Shangwen was not entirely clear on the current state of the war between the Qing and the Han, no matter how strong the Han was, it was definitely stronger than the Ryukyu Kingdom.

After all, the Qing Dynasty was so powerful that the Great Han Kingdom dared to challenge it, and even managed to do so for so long. Clearly, the Ryukyu Kingdom, being weak and impoverished, was not one that could afford to offend.

Moreover, the fact that the Han envoy arrived in Ryukyu and went to Kume Island first instead of Shuri Castle was something that King Shoun couldn't help but think about.

It is said that a guilty conscience needs no accuser. Just three years ago, he had a conflict with the Han Chinese on Kume Island and abolished the Han Chinese on Kume Island's monopoly on the number of official positions in Ryukyu.

The minister, still expecting King Shang Wen's reaction, quickly said, "Your Highness, rest assured, we already sent people to Naha Port to inform the officials in charge of the barbarian magistrate!"

"That's good, that's good!"

King Shangwen remained silent for a moment, still feeling somewhat uneasy. He raised his hand weakly and said, "Ahem, send another ship to Minglun Hall (Kumejima's direct jurisdiction, equivalent to a county government) to ask if these burly envoys intend to come to Shuri Castle, and when they will arrive. I'd like to make some preparations for their reception as soon as possible."

"Yes."

"By the way, there's more..."

"Your Highness, please tell me."

"Tell those who came before to be as humble as possible. The angels of the Han Dynasty are also Chinese angels, and we must not offend them."

"……Yes."

……

Kumejima and Shuri Castle are very close to each other, both being directly administered areas, and the two were only about two days apart.

The minister sent by the King of Ryukyu to inquire cautiously returned, bringing with him several huge ships that forcefully docked and landed at Naha Port, completely ignoring the port's warning signs.

King Shangwen, who was dragging his ailing body, arrived at the port to personally greet the guests, accompanied by several Japanese samurai whose faces were clearly not looking too good.

They were all samurai from the Satsuma Domain stationed at Naha Port, serving as retainers of the Satsuma Domain. Their main duties were to manage and supervise the administration and trade of Ryukyu.

Of course, doing so would be illegal, violating not only the tributary relationship between China and Ryukyu, but also the isolationist policy imposed by the Edo Shogunate.

Xu Mingyu, dressed in a Han Dynasty official's robe, disembarked from the ship with his guards in an arrogant manner. After disembarking, his expression became somewhat strange.

He hadn't really noticed it when he was on Kumejima, because the people there all spoke Mandarin and were generally older, so the old man's appearance didn't seem too out of place.

But when they arrived at Naha Port, they found that, including the young Ryukyu King Sho On, very few of them were tall.

Considering Xu Mingyu's tall and burly stature, all these people in front of him were fat and ugly, and some of them even had particularly strange hairstyles.

Tang Yi, a Chinese man from Kume who was temporarily acting as a translator and guide beside Xu Mingyu, quickly explained, "Your Excellency, those people dressed in strange clothes and with shaved heads are samurai from the Satsuma Domain of Japan who have been stationed here."

"The Envoy of the Frontier?" Xu Mingyu had never heard of this official position and was somewhat puzzled.

Tang Yi couldn't say for sure either, and could only vaguely say, "Um... they were probably Japanese officials from the Satsuma Domain who were in charge of managing Naha Port."

Xu Mingyu still didn't understand, but he caught the unspoken meaning: "Satsuma manages Naha Port. Isn't the Satsuma Domain a daimyo of Japan? How come they're managing Naha Port? Does that mean Naha Port is also Japanese territory?"

In the end, it all boils down to escalating the issue and labeling people with serious accusations.

Tang Yi was taken aback at first, but his face immediately lit up with joy. He said, "What the angel says is true. The Satsuma Domain of Japan is clearly just a Japanese daimyo. Yet it disregards the fact that Ryukyu is a tributary state of China and forcibly sends troops to annex Ryukyu. This is truly audacious!"

As expected, Xu Mingyu was instantly furious: "What? The Satsuma Domain actually sent troops to annex Ryukyu? This is outrageous! Doesn't the Ryukyu Kingdom even think about resisting?"

Tang Yi sighed deliberately, "Hey, the King of Ryukyu isn't a true member of the Shang clan, why would he think of rebelling?"

The more Tang Yi sighed, the more agitated and enraged Xu Mingyu became.

The two of them sang in unison, but their performance was too stiff.

Even the Ryukyu king, who didn't understand much Chinese, and a few Satsuma samurai were somewhat confused and bewildered.

They seemed to catch a few phrases like "outrageous," "outrageously audacious," "Satsuma Domain," and "Ryukyu," and combined with Xu Mingyu's changing expression, they guessed that the other party seemed to have suddenly become somewhat "angry."

Feeling inexplicably uneasy, King Shangwen suppressed the urge to cough and stepped forward, intending to interrupt, but was pulled back by a minister who was more fluent in Chinese. Before King Shangwen could ask the minister what was going on, the angel who had just been somewhat "angry" suddenly turned his gaze to them and then gently raised his hand: "Arrest all these traitors!"

At a command, the Han army set out.

King Sho On of Ryukyu, along with his ministers, guards, and several retainers from the Satsuma Domain, were all captured by the surging Han soldiers.

There was no time to react, and no one even thought to react. Nobody expected that they would come to greet them properly, showing all their sincerity, only to have the angels attack them as soon as they arrived!
"Let me go... cough cough, I am the King of Ryukyu! Your Majesty, this is all a misunderstanding, I am willing to return the official student quota to Kume Island."

Good heavens, this Ryukyu king still believes that it was his attempt to abolish Kume Island's monopoly on official privileges that led to the Han angel's show of force against the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Not only him, but the Satsuma samurai were also struggling and cursing.

"Baka! We are retainers of the Satsuma Shimazu family, we are noble samurai, you cannot arrest us!"

"The Shimazu family will not let you get away with this, you damned Chinese!"

"..."

Although the Han soldiers couldn't understand Japanese, for some reason, as soon as they heard the word "baka," they felt that these Japanese people must be cursing.

At that moment, several Han soldiers who could not hold back stepped forward and began punching and kicking the struggling Satsuma warriors.

They were beaten severely several times, their samurai spirits shattered to pieces. They writhed and begged for mercy, muttering things like "red bean paste" and "simimasai" incoherently.

The Han soldiers couldn't understand, they just kept throwing punches, which almost made the already frightened King Sho On of Ryukyu faint.

Xu Mingyu said, "Go and tell them to open Shuri Castle immediately, and then order all the troops on the island to disband. I can still allow them to go to Nanjing with some dignity, so that they don't have to go too badly."

Tang Yi stepped forward as ordered and translated the message into Ryukyu language.

King Sho On of Ryukyu was first puzzled, then surprised, and then hurriedly started shouting in a string of words.

Tang Yi translates: "Your Excellency, the King of Ryukyu is pleading his case to you!"

Xu Mingyu shook his head and said to the officer beside him, "Commander Guo, just pick any one of those Satsuma samurai over there and kill him right in front of them." Then he said to Tang Yi, "Tell them that if they don't agree, behead them one by one, starting with those Satsuma samurai, then the rest of them, all the way up to the king. And when I conquer Shuri Castle, leave no one alive!"

Tang Yi immediately ran over to translate. While translating, Han soldiers were also present. They actually brought up a Satsuma Domain samurai and started beheading him to show them.

This terrified the Ryukyu king and his court. King Sho On nodded frantically, "I'll listen, I'll listen! I'll immediately order the guards and the Kenkiri army to disband, along with the Nakayama guard, and open Shuri Castle. Please, Your Excellency, spare our lives!"

Although the Ryukyu Kingdom was poor and weak, it did have an army, which adopted the "Kuri" lottery system.

According to the "Kuri" lottery system, the Ryukyu Royal Palace established a Kuri Guard and a militia group called the Makiri Army in the central and southern parts of the Ryukyu Island, which were selected by lottery.

The Kuri Guard, popularly known as the "Shuri Imperial Guard," was a guard directly under the jurisdiction of the Ryukyu Royal Palace.

Each guard consisted of 20 men, with one member of the Shigeoshiki Chikumo-no-kami (a Ryukyu samurai) serving as captain, one member of the Chikuden Chikumo-no-kami as vice-captain, and the other members being Ieki Akagashi (castle laborers).

The Ryukyu Royal Palace had a total of twelve guards, divided into three groups: the Ox Day Shift, the Rooster Day Shift, and the Snake Day Shift. Each group had four teams, and they took turns on fixed days.

Three groups of guards took turns guarding Shuri Castle and the area north of Naha Port, while the area from the south of Naha Port to Toyomi Castle was guarded by the militia's garrison.

The total number of Kuli's Guard and the Insurgency Army was approximately several thousand.

In addition to these two armies, Ryukyu also established the position of Kitayama Garrison Commander in Guiren Castle, which commanded the Kitayama Kuri Guard, a force of several hundred men, and was responsible for guarding the northern part of the Ryukyu main island.

Judging solely by the size of the army, the Ryukyu army doesn't seem too small, but the Ryukyu Kingdom has faced extreme financial difficulties since it came under the control of the Satsuma Domain.

An army of several thousand men could probably only maintain a standing force of less than a thousand, and most of the time they were probably farming, fishing, and busy paying taxes to the Satsuma Domain.

When King Shangwen issued his order, although the officers of the Kuli Guard and the Jianqie Army on duty felt something was amiss, they still chose to obey and disband.

Needless to say, Shuri Castle was a different story. In the morning, the king went to the port to welcome the great Han angels, and now that the king has returned with the angels, they opened their gates to welcome the angels into the city without the king even having to give an order.

And then, that was it. The Han army stormed in and completely captured and controlled Shuri Castle.

In the eyes of the Han army, the capital of Ryukyu was indeed not difficult to attack. Even if the Ryukyu king defended the city, it would be very easy for the Han army to take it down.

The city walls were simply too low, not even as high as those of an ordinary county town under the rule of the Han Dynasty. The population and army were also very small. In case of emergency, the Han army specially sent a battalion commander to the city, but in the end, no battle broke out.

With just a simple intimidation, Xu Mingyu brought the Ryukyu king and his officials to the Satsuma Domain's Shukyu Garrison Office, as well as the current capital, Shuri Castle, all under the control of the Han army.

Even after Shuri Castle was captured by the Han army, the Ryukyu people did not realize that anything was wrong. Even the Kuri Guard and the Makiri Army, which had been ordered to be disbanded, did not think of returning to defend the king.

Xu Mingyu was somewhat speechless at how easily Shuri Castle was captured, but he quickly composed himself and began to read out the imperial edict from the Han emperor to the Ryukyu Kingdom.

The imperial edict contained only a few simple sentences, without much flowery language, and its meaning was very straightforward.

The reason is that the Ryukyu king was an imposter who fabricated royal blood, so now the wrongs are being set right, the Ryukyu Kingdom is being destroyed by military force, and the descendants of the Shang family are being found to inherit the throne.

First, establish a puppet king, and then have the puppet king voluntarily offer up territory to become a vassal state.

Meanwhile, all the fake Ryukyu kings with false surnames were packed up and sent to Nanjing to await their fate.

(End of this chapter)