Ming East India Company

On the castle tower, Shimazu Yoshihisa watched as the fortified castle crumbled under the bombardment of giant cannons. His personal guards were killed or wounded by flying debris, and all he could hear were the soldiers' cries and the deafening roar of the collapsing walls.

His eyes were bloodshot with rage, yet he was utterly powerless. His long sword futilely hacked at the fleeing soldiers, unable to avert the inevitable defeat of his entire family.

The soldiers were terrified and had lost all will to defend the city. They abandoned their weapons and fled in all directions. Some jumped off the city walls, while others hid in the city streets and alleys, plunging the city into complete chaos.

However, the bombardment did not stop; the roar of the 24-pound cannons echoed over Kagoshima Castle again and again.

Solid iron bullets not only shattered the city walls but also fell into the city, destroying houses and piercing granaries, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.

The once orderly Kagoshima Castle was turned into a living hell under the bombardment of heavy artillery. The people cried out and fled in all directions, and the soldiers abandoned their armor and weapons, no longer having any will to resist.

Finally, after seeing the Shimazu defenders on the city wall completely routed, Shirano calmly issued the order for a general offensive.

Thousands of elite Ryukyu soldiers swarmed forward and broke into the city through the breach in the wall. By this time, the remaining Shimazu soldiers had long lost the will to resist and surrendered, handing over their weapons and armor.

By dusk, the castle that the Shimazu family had held for hundreds of years had completely fallen into the hands of Hakuno.

In the main hall where the Shimazu family usually held their meetings, Shirano began to tally up the results of the battle.

The heads of important leaders of the Shimazu clan, such as Yoshihisa Shimazu, Toshihisa Shimazu, Tadakatsu Shimazu, Tadatsugu Ijuin, Hisataka Kabayama, and Munetane Hirata, were placed on the table in turn.

"Reporting to the Lord, the entire Kagoshima region has been completely occupied by our army. We have taken the heads of over a thousand people, and we did not include the remaining two thousand who were either samurai or civilians. All the core members of the Shimazu clan have been captured by our army without exception."

In addition, 500,000 koku of grain, accumulated by the Shimazu family over generations, were seized. Furthermore, over 200,000 silver coins of various types were confiscated, along with over 300,000 taels of silver of different purities; the exact value of these items still needs to be estimated.

Su Zhongman, Bai Ye's new secretary, reported word by word that since Wang Sanshi began to show his talent, Bai Ye had put him in charge of planning naval affairs.

At this moment, Shirayuki simply signed his name on the official report as a routine matter.

With his army now strong and well-equipped, he no longer coveted the scraps left by the Shimazu clan.

Are the documents and files still intact?

"Everything is in good condition. The Shimazu family has completed the inventory of all their land holdings and property records in Satsuma, Osumi, Hyuga and other places, totaling approximately 60 koku."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the army generals present, including Feng Luzi and Pang Shipu, lit up.

Previously, Ryukyu's total koku was only 130,000 koku. Now, after annexing Ryukyu, they have obtained 600,000 koku. What a huge piece of meat that is!

These high-ranking generals no longer cared about the amount of stone, but they knew very well how many Ming Dynasty garrison soldiers they could recruit through these stone amounts.

Seeing the crowd beaming with joy, Shirano immediately gave the order:

"Confiscate all of the Shimazu's territories in Satsuma and Ōsumi, and bring them all under the control of Ryukyu. All the samurai and village lords there shall be expelled."

Furthermore, taxes will be waived for the people in the Shimazu territory for the next three years. It will also be announced that this military campaign is solely for the Shimazu and has nothing to do with other daimyo on Kyushu Island, in order to minimize the creation of enemies.

Thinking of this, Bai Ye paused, then addressed the question that everyone present was most concerned about:

"As for the land allocation that you are most concerned about, please rest assured that I will deal with it after the war, ensuring that every participant has a share, and that the land allocation will not be less than that of Ryukyu."

As soon as Bai Ye finished speaking, the generals and officers in the room cheered and knelt down in unison.

Shirane knew what these soldiers were thinking, but the battle wasn't over yet, so he could only ask them to wait a little while.

Just as Hakuno led the Ryukyu army to raid the Shimazu stronghold, news of the final victory also arrived from the main battlefield of Sekigahara.

Just as Hakuno had predicted, the Western Army, with its divided loyalties, was no match for the Eastern Army. Although Mori Terumoto of this world, threatened by Ryukyu from behind, did not remain inactive as he had in history, he actively participated in the battle.

However, just like in history, Kobayakawa Hideaki defected to the Eastern Army, ultimately causing the Western Army's front to collapse.

Ōtani Yoshitsugu was killed in battle. Ishida Mitsunari, Konishi Yukinaga, and Ankokuji Ekei were captured and their heads were displayed at Rokujogawara. Ukita Hideie, Maeda, and others were defeated and fled.

Overnight, the major daimyo of the Western Army surrendered one after another, and Tokugawa Ieyasu's rule was now as solid as a rock.

After his victory, Tokugawa did not let these Western Army daimyo off easily; a large number of them had their fiefdoms reduced or changed.

……

"Lord Hidemoto, if you've come here today simply to beg for my pity, then I suggest you don't waste your breath. We Ryukyu have no interest in listening to your Eastern domestic affairs."

Shiro spoke slowly and deliberately, the person in front of him being none other than Mori Hidemoto, a general of the Mori clan who had escaped from Sekigahara.

"Please calm down, Master. This time, my Mori family is truly facing a life-or-death situation, so we have no choice but to ask Ryukyu for help!" Mori Hidemoto kowtowed repeatedly, pleading incessantly.

"Why didn't you do this earlier? If you had just offered 20 koku of land in Ōsumi, Ryukyu would have sent troops to Sekigahara to assist the Western Army. But you wouldn't even offer that much. What else is there to say?"

"We know our sins, we know our sins," Mori Hidemoto said earnestly.

"The Tokugawa clan is now going to devour the entire territory of the Mori clan. Now that the Western Army has been defeated, we can only ask the lord of the Ryukyu Domain for help."

After the defeat at Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not let go of Mori Terumoto, the commander-in-chief of the Western Army. He planned to strip him of all his power, wipe out all of Mori's territories, and send him to Edo as an ordinary 2000 koku hatamoto.

Desperate and at his wits' end, Mori Terumoto had no choice but to seek help from Ryukyu, hoping they could lend him a hand.

"Is that so? How can I be sure of your sincerity this time? Although Lord Tokugawa is cunning and treacherous, he at least has a long-standing cooperative relationship with us. What does your Mori clan have to prove your sincerity?"

"You know, the messenger who came to negotiate with me last time is still hanging in Rokkawara with his head on the line!"

A hint of mockery appeared on Bai Ye's lips.

The face of the man opposite him, Hidemoto Mori, was flushed.

After the defeat at Sekigahara, Ankokuji Ekei, as the Mori clan's diplomatic representative, unfortunately became a "scapegoat" for Mori Terumoto and others.

In his letter of pleas for mercy to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Mori boldly shifted all the blame for his involvement in the Western Army onto Ankokuji Ekei. As a result, Tokugawa Ieyasu "sensibly" beheaded this poor bald monk along with Ishida Mitsunari as the "culprit."