There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 484 utterly vulnerable (with map)
Faced with the Han army's conquest of the Ryukyu Kingdom and the removal of the Satsuma Domain's magistrate in Naha Port, Shimazu Shigehiro, after careful consideration, decided to hold back for the time being.

The puppet head of the clan, Shimazu Nariaki, son, and several senior retainers were right; the Satsuma Domain was indeed out of money.

The Satsuma Domain appeared powerful, considered the strongest domain in Kyushu, and even became one of the four strongest domains towards the end of the shogunate.

However, it cannot be denied that the Satsuma Domain was poor and had no money. The debt in the domain treasury alone was approaching one million taels of gold.

Even so, it was only through continuous subsidies from the Ryukyu trade that the debt was not piled up too high.

The Shimazu family, spanning generations including Shigehiro, Nariaki, and Nariyuki, nearly brought the Satsuma Domain's finances to a standstill.

Fortunately, Shimazu Shigehiro heavily relied on Tsushō Hiroto in his later years, and Tsushō Hiroto managed to barely resolve the Satsuma Domain's financial difficulties by engaging in large-scale smuggling and defaulting on loans from merchants.

Then, these things were discovered by the shogunate because the Satsuma Domain's smuggling of goods to solve its financial problems had become so blatant that it had almost formed a monopoly. They had even started smuggling shogunate supplies, which made the shogunate finally lose its patience and impose sanctions on the Satsuma Domain.

Although Hiroto Tsōsō has been employed by Shigetaka Shimazu, he is currently still a tea ceremony monk working alongside Shigetaka Shimazu.

This tea ceremony monk is very particular; he is not only a monk of tea ceremony, but also a monk of Taoism.

That's right, just as everyone imagines, there's an outrageous traditional custom in Japan, from the Emperor down to the noble daimyo.

That's... sex!

From the highest emperor down to the shogun, daimyo, and samurai, there was a tradition of engaging in sexual activity, which they called "shudo".

During the reign of the Emperor's Insei (when the Emperor held real power), the power of the ministers around the Emperor often depended on how close they were to the Emperor.

Even the political struggles between powerful ministers could extend to jealousy and rivalry in the Emperor's bedchamber.

Such outrageous behavior, in the eyes of the Japanese, is actually beneficial for mutual understanding and for strengthening the close relationship between lord and retainer.

Interestingly, some Japanese scholars believe that the reason why Toyotomi Hideyoshi's regime collapsed so quickly was because Toyotomi Hideyoshi came from a very humble background, he only liked women, and he couldn't understand the promiscuous behavior among nobles.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's retainers felt that their lord's refusal to engage in sexual relations with them indicated a lack of trust. Therefore, upon Hideyoshi's death, the group immediately disintegrated.

Meanwhile, Shimazu Shigehiro made a decision: although he did not intend to confront the Han army head-on, he still issued an order to his retainers and samurai in the Amami Islands to assemble for battle.

At the same time, ships were dispatched to the Ryukyu Islands to try to make contact with the Han army and see if the matter could be resolved peacefully. At the very least, the Amami Islands, which had been occupied by the Satsuma Domain, should be preserved.

During the Satsuma Wars, most of the islands of the Ryukyu Kingdom were under the tributary rule of the Satsuma Domain.

The Ryukyu Kingdom still had considerable autonomy, except for the Amami Islands, which were actually governed by the Satsuma Domain.

Now that it has been under the rule of the Satsuma Domain for nearly two hundred years, it has long been regarded as its own inherent territory. The Ryukyu Islands can be given to the Han army, but the Enkan Islands absolutely cannot be given up.

While the Satsuma Domain was actively preparing for war, the Han Chinese army at Shuri Castle was also preparing for battle.

Xu Mingyu's official position in Ryukyu was indeed that of Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, but his role as Vice Minister was not to contact the King of Ryukyu, but rather to attempt to make contact with the Japanese Shogunate.

The mission to Ryukyu was merely to deliver the imperial decree en route, and to take over the country with a large army, turning Ryukyu into an overseas territory of the Han Dynasty. This also served as a way to reconnect with the previous intimidation efforts against Japan.

Shuri Castle.

Xu Mingyu was holding a map of Ryukyu presented by the Han Chinese from Kume Village, listening to them explain the map.

Tang Caiji pointed at the map and gestured back and forth, saying, "My lord, please look, this area is Shuri Castle, where we are now. It is also the main island of the Ryukyu Kingdom and belongs to the central area of ​​the Ryukyu Kingdom. Shuri Castle is located in the Nakagami region, while Naha is located in the Shimajiri region, and Kitayama Castle is located in the Kunigami region."

Xu Mingyu said, "It's too chaotic, and the names are too awful. I will inform His Majesty to rename them. For now, let's call them Naha, Kitayama, and Shuri!"

These words clearly imply that Ryukyu is already considered part of the Han Dynasty's territory, even though Ryukyu is still a vassal state of the Han Dynasty and nominally still an independent kingdom.

“The angel is right.”

Tang Rongji pretended not to know and dared not object in the slightest.

The Han Dynasty's annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom was advantageous to them. This was because Ryukyu was too far from the Han Dynasty's mainland and too small for the Han Dynasty to send large numbers of immigrants there.

Even if they were to immigrate, they would certainly have to rely on these descendants of Han Chinese in the early stages. No matter what they choose, they would be able to become superior people in Ryukyu, "below the Han and above Ryukyu".

Tang Rongji continued, "Now that the main island has been taken by the Heavenly Army, there are still the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands to the south. These islands are not to be feared, but there are the Satsuma Domain's magistrates stationed on the islands, which may cause some trouble."

Xu Mingyu smiled and said, "General Manager Guo, I'll leave this matter to you."

Commander Guo said, "They're just a few short Japanese pirates. We can take care of them by sending a ship."

Tang Rongji then pointed north: "These are the eight northeastern islands of Ryukyu, which the Ryukyuans call Ubu-seima, while the Satsuma Domain renamed them the Amami Islands. To the north are also the Tokara Islands, which are also Satsuma Domain territory. The eight northeastern islands are nominally still part of the Ryukyu Kingdom, but in reality they have been occupied by the Satsuma Domain."

After saying that, Tang Rongji didn't say anything more. He was testing the Han's attitude: was it enough to just take Ryukyu Island, or should they also head north to recover the eight northeastern islands?

To reclaim the eight northeastern islands would inevitably lead to conflict with the Satsuma Domain. Tang Rongji had been in Ryukyu for too long and his thinking had become somewhat Ryukyuanized, so he worried whether the Han army would be willing to take the "risk" of going to war with the Satsuma Domain.

Without further thought, Xu Mingyu said directly, "Since it is Ryukyu territory and has been occupied by the Satsuma Domain, then our Great Han will naturally stand up for Ryukyu."

Once the decision was made, the Han army divided its forces at Shuri Castle after only two days of preparation.

One hundred Han soldiers sailed south on a warship to eliminate the garrison commanders of the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands in the southern part of the Ryukyu Islands, and to deliver the new king's order of submission.

The remaining Han troops all sailed north, leaving only 100 men to garrison Shuri Castle.

Yoron Island is the southernmost of the eight northeastern islands of Ryukyu (Amami Islands).

The island is very small and almost uninhabited, with only a few native inhabitants, three Satsuma samurai, and twelve foot soldiers stationed there.

It's not that we can't accommodate more people, but the island is too small; if too many people lived there, it would be difficult to support them all.

The Satsuma Domain still needs to extract poll tax from this tiny island to supplement its finances!
The poll tax was introduced by the Satsuma Domain to supplement its finances; the Ryukyu Kingdom's own tax system did not include a poll tax.

Three Satsuma samurai were on their routine patrol of the island, and because they were too far away, they had not yet received the order from Shimazu Shigehiro to gather troops and prepare for war.

These people hadn't been patrolling for long when they suddenly saw several large ships appear on the lake. The ships headed straight for Yulun Island and, without giving them any time to react, they had already docked at the simple pier.

One of the samurai clearly saw the Chinese character flag flying over the large ship and immediately felt something was wrong, but he still followed the other two and summoned his foot soldiers to go and ask what was going on.

As soon as the three arrived, they saw many people disembarking from the ship, all dressed in red armor and seemingly carrying arquebuses (in Japan, firearms are called cannons).

The leading samurai was very brave and stepped forward to shout, "Who are you? Did the King of Ryukyu send you? Yoron Island belongs to the island family. Quickly return to Ryukyu."

There was no response because the Han soldiers who landed didn't understand a word he was saying. What kind of gibberish was that shorty spouting?
"What are you all standing there for? Shoot them!"

The officer who came down saw the soldiers standing there in a daze and immediately gave the order to shoot.

The dozen or so Han soldiers who had come down immediately raised their rifled guns and, without even aiming, started firing at the Satsuma samurai and foot soldiers.

"Bang bang bang!"

A round of free fire was fired.

There were no Satsuma samurai or foot soldiers standing on the field; they were just there to patrol and were not wearing samurai armor.

Even if you wear samurai armor, given how poorly made Japanese samurai armor is, it wouldn't be able to stop a rifled bullet at all.

After killing the Satsuma garrison, the Han army left behind a squad of soldiers and a Han Chinese man from Kume to first take control of the island's native inhabitants.

The Han army continued northward to attack the larger Okinoyorobu Island.

Okinoyobu Island is three times larger than Yoron Island, and it also has more resources and a larger population. A daikan (deputy official residence) was set up on the island to manage it.

When the Han army landed on Okinoyorabu Island, the Satsuma Domain officials and samurai on the island were greatly surprised. They had not received the news in time and thought that the Ryukyu king had become tough and sent troops to attack.

The warriors rushed over to meet the attack, and then they saw the Han army take out rifled guns.

Where did the Ryukyuans get their firearms?

Under the volley of gunfire, the charging samurai were either killed or scattered.

The Han army immediately split up to pursue them. They relied on the advantage of rifled guns, as well as adequate nutrition and training. In addition, the Han soldiers were generally taller and stronger than the Satsuma warriors.

"Bang...bang bang...bang!"

Intermittent firing continued, and the pursuing force that had been spun out quickly returned, bringing with it several samurai heads with strangely shaved hairstyles.

With the capture of Chongyongliangbu Island, the Han army continued northward, using the same method to sweep through and capture Tokunoshima, Yoroshima, Qing Island, and other islands such as Jiluma Island.

Some of these islands received orders from Shimazu Shigehiro, who led his samurai in a desperate resistance, while others, without orders, were helplessly killed by the Han army.

In just half a day, the Han army's attack and occupation of the island was incredibly fast, and the speed at which the Satsuma Domain's defenses collapsed was equally astonishing.

When the Han army landed on Amami Oshima, the largest of the eight northeastern islands of Ryukyu, it was also the island with the richest resources and population.

There are even samurai with the surname Shimazu stationed on the island. Apart from that, the number of other samurai and foot soldiers has grown to over a thousand over the past two hundred years.

The rule of the Satsuma Domain was so entrenched that almost all the Ryukyuans on the island spoke Japanese and hardly spoke Ryukyuan anymore.

On the Han army side, Commander Guo personally led the team, and his guide hurriedly pointed out: "General, we can land at the northwest port of Oshima, where Oshima Kakera is located. As long as we quickly take Oshima Kakera, the Satsuma Domain army on the island will definitely not dare to resist the Heavenly Army anymore."

Commander Guo ordered: "All troops prepare to land on the island!"

The order was given, and the entire fleet detoured to the northwest of Oshima. Some Ryukyu villagers along the coast discovered this, but there was no time to notify Oshima Kakera, nor did they dare to do so.

The Han army advanced unimpeded and docked at the northwest port of the island.

"Boom boom boom!"

Before they had even finished docking, the Han naval guns opened fire.

Amidst the barrage of artillery fire, Satsuma samurai dressed in samurai attire would occasionally rush out from the buildings along the shore.

They shouted at each other in Japanese, seemingly asking where the attack came from, and some tried to quickly gather troops to meet the enemy, but it was all in vain.

Although Shimazu Shigehiro had given the order in advance, the Satsuma samurai on the island had been living in comfort for far too long.

Having lived on the large island for a long time, all I saw were the weak Ryukyu natives, whose main jobs were collecting taxes and oppressing the locals.

Two hundred years have passed, and the samurai on the island, apart from still carrying swords, have almost no fighting ability left, and they can barely even farm.

Several Satsuma samurai were anxious to gather troops, but they couldn't manage it at all. Those who should have been considered foot soldiers had long been localized by time and turned into tenant farmers and serfs.

Upon seeing the Han army bombarding them with cannons, they were all thrown into a panic and at a loss.

"Boom boom boom!"

Under continuous bombardment from naval guns, the Han army began to land on the island.

Hundreds of Han soldiers landed on the island, carrying rifled guns, and began an indiscriminate massacre of the fleeing Satsuma samurai.

"Bang bang bang!"

After several rounds of rifled gunfire, there were no living people left standing around Oshima Kakera; the area was littered with the corpses and fragments of Satsuma samurai.

When the Han army advanced to the Kakaya on Oshima, the surviving samurai who were lying in ambush inside raised their arquebuses, intending to launch a counterattack.

"Oh!"

With a huge explosion, the cannons in the hands of several Satsuma samurai actually burst open.

The remaining arquebuses were in similar condition; some misfired, others exploded, and less than one-tenth were actually able to fire normally.

After all, these are ancient relics from two hundred years ago. It's not that the Satsuma Domain didn't even have the money to replace their guns; they simply never expected that an army would come all the way to Amami Oshima.

The Han army was well-prepared, wearing bulletproof armor, and were completely unharmed by the occasional bullets fired by the Satsuma samurai.

In less than half an hour, the Han army captured Oshima Kakaya without causing any casualties, and then swept through the entire island.

The island had a considerable number of samurai and foot soldiers, but they were very scattered. With all the katakayas being breached by the enemy, many samurai chose to flee into the mountains to avoid disaster.

The remaining foot soldiers went about their business as usual. No one went to help the samurai gather troops. After two hundred years of localization, they had long since become serf foot soldiers, no different from the serfs of Ryukyu on the island.

The Han army did not indiscriminately massacre them anymore; they only killed the ruling class, and the rest mostly spoke Japanese.

If it's a real killing, it's impossible to tell the difference.

(End of this chapter)