Ming East India Company

With the arrival of the northeast monsoon in October, Shirano's fleet embarked on its journey home.

Also accompanying them was Kuroshimazu. Tokugawa Ieyasu placed great importance on future cooperation with Hakuno, thus ordering Kuroshima to closely follow Hakuno back to Ryukyu. Ostensibly, this was for business convenience, but the deeper intention was to use this opportunity to gather intelligence.

In addition to tons of cannons and hundreds of livestock, the fleet also carried hundreds of Japanese slaves.

"Master, we simply can't afford to feed these slaves! Our fleet's own supplies are barely enough to reach Amami. Now, with these people added, we're afraid we'll run out of supplies halfway through."

Zhao Zhengshi anxiously reported to Bai Ye.

Baiye glanced at the slaves, who were already emaciated and pale from hunger:

"What's so difficult about that? Just lock them in the hold, feed them water and food every day or two, and throw any that die in the meantime into the sea."

"But that would mean at least 30% of these people would die!"

Bai Ye laughed:

"Since these people are so cheap, what does it matter if we suffer a small loss?"

With Shirano's order, the fleet quickly set sail with its "cargo".

Thanks to the watertight compartment design of the Fujian ship, Baiye could easily distribute people, livestock, and goods into different watertight compartments, preventing the excrement and corpses of slaves from contaminating other cargo.

Driven by the northeast monsoon, the Shirano fleet, with favorable winds and currents, returned to Ryukyu in just over twenty days.

Bai Ling, Bai Wenzheng, and the others on the island had been waiting anxiously for a long time. They were overjoyed to see Bai Ye's fleet return safely.

"You're finally back, you wild child."

Then Shirayuki began unloading the cargo: matchlock guns, large livestock, silver, and copper coins were handed down from the ship one by one.

By the time the slaves finally disembarked, the months-long hellish voyage had driven them to mental breakdown. Living in constant contact with excrement, every Japanese slave who stepped out of the cabin reeked of foul odor.

Many people no longer had the strength to walk, but before Baiye boarded the ship, he specially chained them together with long iron chains, so those behind could only be led forward by those in front.

"You wild child, why did you bring so many people and goods back?"

Bai Wenzheng saw straight ahead.

"Yes! This island is already overcrowded, and you've bought so many slaves; there won't be enough food for everyone!"

Baiye laughed and said:

"Ryukyu certainly doesn't need so many people, but the Bai family's future isn't limited to Ryukyu."

"Not just Ryukyu?"

Shirane opened the map:

"South of Ryukyu lies the Eastern Barbarian Lands, and further south of the Eastern Barbarian Lands are countless large islands and continents. My Bai family has countless tracts of land that need to be developed, so of course such good laborers will have a place to be put to use."

"You're going to Dongfan? That's a wasteland!" Bai Ling asked in surprise.

"It is precisely because it is a wasteland that it is the place where we can truly shine."

"But Ryukyu is already very wealthy. We have money, soldiers, and farmers on this island, making us practically a local lord. Why should we risk our lives to reclaim wasteland?"

Bai Ling's question left Bai Ye speechless.

Since transmigrating, Bai Ye has been fighting against an invisible force: the complacent mentality of the entire Bai family.

Bai Ye couldn't tell them the course of history, nor could they understand the tremendous changes happening in the world. The vast majority of Bai family members were essentially the same as Cheng Keqin, Zheng Zhilong, and countless other maritime merchants of the same era.

The goal of a lifetime of struggle is to become a landowner, build a house, buy a piece of land, and then live a life of farming and scholarship.

Bai Ye could only resort to the same theories he had used to persuade Feng Luzi, telling them about the potential threat from the neighboring Japanese forces and reminding the Bai family that if they didn't actively expand, they would eventually be swallowed up.

Although Bai Ling and the others were skeptical, they eventually followed Bai Ye's advice and agreed to his plan to develop Dongfan.

While sighing, Bai Ye was also grateful that he had been able to maintain control over the soul of the family leader and keep the Bai family's policies consistent over a period of hundreds of years.

……

After discussing the development of the East Coast, Shiro suddenly realized that one person seemed to be missing from the group.

"Where did Luo Sigong go?"

"Oh, him! He went back to Fujian to report the news. Last time we brought back so many heads, he promised that he could definitely bring back the trade monopoly to Ryukyu."

Therefore, he took a boat back to the Ming Dynasty to smooth things over.

Bai Ling's words revealed her excitement about the enormous wealth that was about to be in her hands.

"Report! The Ming envoy has returned. He disembarked at Naha Port two hours ago and is now on his way here."

The guards reported the latest situation to Shirano and the others.

Bai Ye hurriedly ordered people to prepare a banquet. A quarter of an hour later, Luo Sigong came running in, breathless.

"Master, great news! The imperial court has closed Yuegang Port, prohibiting private ships from going to sea, and only allowing us to go there to do business."

His Majesty also bestowed an imperial edict upon the King of Ryukyu.

Baiye took the imperial edict and read it:

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees to the King of Ryukyu to uphold the sword."

I rule over the entire realm and extend my grace to all corners of the world. All overseas vassal states that uphold loyalty and propriety, defend the borders, and demonstrate their power overseas will be rewarded with great favor to recognize their merits.

According to recent reports from the southeastern coastal regions, your Ryukyu Kingdom mobilized its army to defend against the enemy, launched a military campaign, and decisively defeated the Japanese pirates, achieving a great victory. Over a thousand pirate leaders were killed in one fell swoop, pacifying the seas and securing the borders. Your Kingdom has always adhered to the rites and regulations of the Celestial Empire, upholding the duties of a vassal state, and has always been respectful and devout, consistently paying tribute. Now, you have bravely resisted aggression and defeated a powerful enemy, protecting the lives and stability of your people and strengthening the eastern coastal defenses of our Great Ming. Your loyalty and courage are commendable, and your achievements are evident, serving as a model for all vassal states.

I am very pleased and have specially dispatched an envoy to Ryukyu to bestow upon him the following gifts: three thousand bolts of colored silk, one hundred thousand taels of silver, one hundred sets of fine armor, two thousand shi of grain, and ten sets of imperial tea utensils, to reward the merits of your soldiers and commend your king for his good governance.

"This imperial edict commands Your Majesty to henceforth diligently govern, pacify the people, strengthen coastal defenses, and secure the maritime borders forever; uphold the great principles of tributary relations, carefully observe the rites of tribute, and forever serve as the bulwark of the Celestial Empire in the East, sharing in the peace and prosperity of the world. So be it."

Shirono's thighs:

"Good heavens, this emperor is truly generous, giving away 100,000 taels of silver and 100 suits of armor all at once. This is a huge windfall!"

"However," Shirano discovered a blind spot:

"The Ryukyu Kingdom handed over more than two thousand heads in total, so why are there only a little over a thousand now?"

Luo Sigong said meekly:

"To be honest, the remaining heads were divided up among officials at all levels along the Fujian coast. They said that in order to properly report the heads as merits, they needed to share some of the credit."

"So that's why you're so confident about reporting your achievements! This is how you supposedly 'pull strings'!" Bai Ling mocked.

Luo Sigong quickly kowtowed, then stammered:

"Moreover, the rewards that the imperial court gave us, the officials in Fujian... also... also have to take half of them."