Ming East India Company

"A landmine?" Cheng Keqin's eyes widened.

"That's impossible! The Ryukyuans have been doing maritime trade for so many years, they've seen it all, even if they haven't eaten pork! How could they not have seen those big red-haired sailing ships with so many cannons?"

"Besides, since the Ryukyuans could use matchlock guns, they should be able to understand cannons! Isn't this bowl-shaped cannon just an enlarged matchlock gun?"

Bai Wenzheng was also amazed by the unique brain circuitry of the Ryukyuans.

Shirane pondered for a moment, and finally said:

"That's actually quite possible. With the wealth of the Ryukyuans, they could afford a dozen matchlock muskets, but they would most likely be reluctant to spend tens of thousands of taels on a single cannon."

Moreover, Ryukyu lacked horses, so even if they were given cannons, they would likely be useless. Over time, their understanding of cannons naturally became extremely unfamiliar.

Furthermore, given the Ryukyuans' crushing defeat at the Battle of Kijin Castle, it's understandable that defeated armies tend to exaggerate our strength, leading to widespread rumors and the current situation.

After listening to Bai Ye's analysis, everyone agreed that it made sense. Suddenly, Bai Ling realized something:

"Wild Child, was it for this reason that you insisted on carrying those two cannons onto the ship despite all the risks?"

Baiye laughed heartily:

"I did think that since the Ryukyuans didn't have horses, they probably didn't have cannons either, so this thing would definitely have a surprising effect on scaring them. But I didn't expect them to be so closed off from the world."

During the process of Western colonial expansion, the advantages created by information asymmetry and superstition had their merits.

When the Incas faced the Spanish, they mistook the horse-riding cavalry for gods and believed that the Spanish knights' legs and horses were fused together. Therefore, they would flee in all directions when they saw the Spanish cavalry charging.

Unexpectedly, on the Ryukyu Island in East Asia, Shirano also thoroughly experienced the life of a colonizer.

Having figured out why the Ryukyuans surrendered without a fight, Hakuno had no reason to be polite. His expeditionary force marched into Shuri Castle and quickly took control of the entire city.

Hakuno led his troops into the palace of King Shōnei of Ryukyu, where palace maids, eunuchs, and concubines were already kneeling to welcome their new master.

"I didn't expect there really were eunuchs in the palace?"

Bai Ling, who had never seen the world before, was now having her eyes opened.

Bai Ling grabbed the eunuch by the collar, touched his bald sideburns, and curiously peered down into his trousers...

This terrified the young eunuch, who cried out and begged for mercy in broken Chinese:

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"I didn't mean to kill you, what are you begging for!"

But the eunuch seemed not to hear him, continuing to mutter repeatedly, "Don't kill me!"

"Stop scaring them. These people probably just learned Mandarin on the spot. They probably only know one sentence at most. If you keep scaring them, they might die of fright."

Baiye stood by and made sarcastic remarks.

These words piqued Bai Ling's interest, and she casually drew her sword from her waist, pretending to slash at it.

This completely terrified the little eunuch. Hot urine was flowing from his crotch, and the stench was so strong that even Bai Ye and the others, who were far away, couldn't help but feel nauseous.

"Pah, pah, pah." Bai Ling looked at the eunuch with disgust: "I heard from the storyteller that people without testicles stink a lot when they urinate. Seeing this today, it is indeed true."

I wonder if the emperor in Beijing, dealing with these spineless people every day, ever gets suffocated by the stench.

The people behind him burst into laughter.

Bai Ling then threw the eunuch to the ground and left.

Only Bai Jiancheng, in his bookish daze, walked up to the prisoners and began reciting his grand theories to himself:

Confucius said: "Wars fought for land result in countless deaths; wars fought for cities result in countless deaths. This is what is meant by leading the land to eat human flesh—a crime for which death is unforgivable! Therefore, those skilled in warfare receive the highest punishment, those who unite with the feudal lords come next, and those who clear the wilderness and cultivate the land are next..."

"That's what Mencius said," Bai Ye couldn't help but retort.

"Is this...?" Bai Jiancheng, who only had a smattering of knowledge, scratched his head and began to recall the text again...

"Don't overthink it." Bai Ye looked at Bai Jiancheng, both amused and exasperated. To ease Bai Jiancheng's guilt, Bai Ye walked up to him and pointed to the eunuch on the ground, saying:

"Is Ryukyu a vassal state of our Great Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes," Bai Jiancheng replied firmly.

"Then all under heaven belongs to the king, and all within the borders are his subjects. Does Ryukyu count as a subject of my Great Ming?"

"That definitely counts."

"Then what kind of behavior is it for a foreign nation to use eunuchs, something only the Ming Dynasty has?"

"This..." Bai Jiancheng scratched his head. "I don't remember the Four Books and Five Classics that the teacher taught us mentioning this!"

"You bookworm! In the Analects, Book 8, Chapter 8, Confucius said to Ji Shi, 'If the practice of having eight rows of dancers perform in the courtyard is tolerable, what is intolerable?'"

Confucius considered it an overstepping of authority for a mere official of the Ji family to use the rites and music reserved for the emperor. What kind of behavior is it for the Ryukyuans to now use eunuchs, the kind of servants only the emperor of our Great Ming Dynasty could use?

Bai Jiancheng thought for a moment:

"It does seem to be a great disrespect."

"So what's the problem with us attacking them now?"

Bai Jiancheng thought about it and felt that Bai Ye's words made sense, then revealed a simple and honest smile:

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Brother Ye."

Bai Ye sighed as he watched Bai Jiancheng's retreating figure.

It wasn't that he felt sorry for Bai Jiancheng, this "Mother of the Ming Dynasty," but rather that colonial expansion also required some ideological construction.

The three magic weapons of Western colonization—gold, God, and honor—were always an indispensable part of the religious expansion of missionaries.

From the Americas to Africa and then to Asia, countless missionaries braved malaria, mosquitoes, and the swords and spears of primitive people, carrying scriptures in one hand and sword in the other to help expand European civilization.

During the Age of Exploration, Europeans also carried out religious reforms incidentally.

On the other hand, Bai Ye dared not expect the corrupt scholars of the Ming Dynasty to have the courage and ability to dedicate themselves to spreading their teachings; at least he hoped they wouldn't hold him back every day in the future.

There were quite a few extraordinary people like Liu Daxia in the Ming Dynasty during this era.

Debating scriptures is something you have to practice sooner or later, so let's start by taking Bai Jiancheng as our first target!

The group passed through the procession of prisoners and arrived at the main hall of King Shō Ning of Ryukyu.

The Ryukyu Royal Palace is divided into four parts. The main hall, where ceremonies are held, is about five zhang high, with nine bays in width and five bays in depth, modeled after the "supreme emperor" of the Central Plains dynasty.

On either side are the South Hall, where the king handled daily affairs, and the North Hall, where he received envoys from various countries of the Ming Dynasty and the Eastern Ocean.

Behind them was Shang Ning's living quarters. Normally, eunuchs, palace maids, and concubines were not allowed to leave their quarters, but now that the Ryukyu Kingdom had been destroyed, the soldiers responsible for guarding them had long since disappeared, leaving only these homeless palace servants remaining in the palace.

Outside the palace, to the left is the royal living quarters, and to the right is the Ryukyu Treasury.

Although the palace couldn't compare to the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty, it was fully equipped with all kinds of facilities, which made Bai Ye sigh:

"As expected of the bridge connecting all nations, it is indeed prosperous."