Ninety-nine years?!

Shang Ning and Shang Feng, father and son, as well as a group of Ryukyu officials, were dumbfounded, this deadline was really beyond their imagination.

If you agree, wouldn't you just give the country to the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no more Ryukyu in the world.

"Your Majesty, I can't agree, the "Fifteen Articles" signed with Satsuma still make me Ryukyu save the country, but the Ming country's Lend-Lease bill wants me to ruin the Ryukyus!"

Mao Fengyi, the third official, cried silently and grabbed King Shangning, for fear that the cowardly and fearful king would tremble and agree to Mingguo's request.

"Your Majesty, the Ming Kingdom is not helping our country, but to make our country a part of the Ming Dynasty from now on, the king must not agree!"

Mao Fengchao, the younger brother of Mao Fengyi, who held the few military powers of the Ryukyu Guards during the reign of Kikuin, also insisted that he would not agree to the absurd demands made by the Ming Dynasty.

"Ning'er, what do you think?"

King Shangning, who has been worried every day since the Toyotomi era, has long run out of ideas, compared to Japan, the huge Ming Dynasty is something he does not dare to offend at all, not to mention that the army of the Ming Dynasty has occupied the entire Ryukyus.

Therefore, he wanted to consult his adopted son Shang Feng's opinion, and even he wanted to hand over the throne directly to Shang Feng, so it had nothing to do with him whether he agreed or not to agree to the excessive demands of the Ming Dynasty, even if Ryukyu really died, he would not have to bear the infamy.

However, although Shang Feng's courage was not much greater than that of his adoptive father, he was also very shrewd, and directly kicked the ball to Shang Ning.

He said: "The Ming Dynasty made such unreasonable demands, and the sons did not dare to make arbitrary decisions, and everything was up to the father, that is, they wanted the sons to live and die with the country, and the sons had no complaints." ”

Shang Ning scolded his adopted son in his heart, if he wasn't afraid of death, how could he please Japan like a grandson back then.

To agree or not to agree, there is no other choice given by the Ming people.

How to choose, Shang Ning is really worried. According to his heart, as long as he can live, he will be leased for 99 years for 99 years, anyway, he is seventy years old, and he will not live for a few years.

But the Mao brothers gathered a group of people to admonish him, asking him not to agree to the Ming Dynasty no matter what.

Even the Mao brothers proposed that they could go across the sea to Japan for emergency relief, even if they could form a Ryukyu government-in-exile in Japan.

This situation was quickly revealed to the imperial army by Cai Jin, the political doctor.

Although Cai Jin is a political doctor in the Ryukyus, he is a native of Fujian. At the beginning, the news that the Japanese Murayama Qiu'an fleet wanted to occupy Taiwan was secretly passed on by Cai Jin to the Fujian government. During the Juyin government, Cai Jin was obedient on the surface, but in private, he and some pro-Ming officials planned to support Shangxian as king and asked the Ming Dynasty to send troops.

After the combined fleet of the Ming Dynasty surrounded and annihilated the Murayama fleet, Cai Jin and some officials escaped from the Japanese-controlled area with Shangxian Bao, and then actively cooperated with the imperial army's offensive against the Japanese army, helping the imperial army establish order outside the Japanese theater of operations, and became the representative of the Ryukyu pro-Ming faction, which was indispensable.

Gonggong Wei summoned Cai Jin and clearly told Cai Jin that as long as he could persuade the Ryukyu pro-Ming faction to approve the lease, he would play the Great Tomorrow to ensure that he was the first magistrate of Liangchen County.

The temptation of the magistrate of the Ming Dynasty was much stronger than that of the so-called political doctor of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and Cai Jin was originally a Han Chinese, so he immediately responded to the call of the Duke of Wei and moved around among the pro-Ming officials of the Ryukyus, forming a certain momentum.

However, because the Japanese army had been running the Ryukyus for many years, there were more pro-Japanese elements in the Ryukyu government than pro-Ming elements, so Cai Jin and others could only influence Shang Xian in their hands, and there was nothing they could do about Shang Ning and Shang Feng, who were surrounded by pro-Japanese elements.

Considering that if the Shang father and son really followed the advice of the Mao brothers and fled to Japan, it would have a very bad effect on the future of the Ryukyus, so Cai Jin immediately informed the imperial army of the situation.

On the same day, the temporary residence of the Shang father and son rushed into the brigade of imperial officers and soldiers, and they arrested all the officials around the Shang father and son, and then sent most of them to Taiwan for hard labor on the charge of Japanese rape.

The two brothers Mao Fengyi and Mao Fengchao were shot on the spot, and their heads were cut off and carried in front of Shang's father and son in a bamboo basket, so frightened that the father and son were speechless for a long time.

The people of the Ryukyus applauded this, because nine years ago, under the auspices of the Mao brothers, all the pro-Ming faction (main battle faction) in the Ryukyus were deposed, and the third official Zheng Zhen was handed over to the Japanese army to be beheaded, and the adjutant Xiang Lirui was sent to Japan as a hostage, and then died in Japan.

The Sho family, who had been frightened by the purge of the pro-Japanese elements in the Ryukyus, did not dare to move anymore, but they were also very moved.

Because the angels of the Ming Dynasty told them that if they were willing to sign a contract, the angels would play the emperor and canonize Shangning as the honorary magistrate of Liangchen County.

This honorary county can not only be hereditary, but also enjoy the special funds given by Liangchen County every year. This offering can ensure that the Shang clan has no worries about food and clothing, as well as various other benefits.

In this regard, many generals within the imperial army raised objections, believing that if the imperial court really wanted to let the Liangchen county magistrate have a long period of stability, it should completely eradicate the former ruler Shang clan.

Gong Wei explained at a meeting of senior combat generals held at the base camp that he said that Ryukyu was different from Japan and Western countries, and that it was a vassal that paid tribute from the beginning of the founding of the dynasty, so even if the imperial army wanted to occupy Ryukyu permanently, it should be realized in the form of "lend-lease".

After all, the ancient guards in the imperial court still occupy high positions, and in order to avoid unnecessary troubles from the court, it is politically necessary to give preferential treatment to the Shang clan, so that they voluntarily lease their country to the imperial army.

Under the pressure of reality, Shang Ning finally signed the "Ryukyu Lend-Lease Act", which explicitly recognized the 99-year rule of the Ryukyu by the Emperor and explicitly guaranteed the various preferential treatment of the Shang clan as lessors.

At the same time, the bill stipulates that after the bill takes effect, the Maritime Yamen of the Emperor Ming will dismiss all the officials sent by the Ryukyu state, take over the Ryukyu military, government, and civilian governance system, and re-measure and distribute land, draw a clear line, and reformulate taxes while ensuring the livelihood of the Ryukyu people.

In addition to being directly appointed by the Imperial Governor and the Maritime Yamen, the civil affairs and taxation officials required by Xinliangchen Prefecture will also be selected from among the former Ryukyu officials and ordinary people.

The emperor promised to treat the citizens of Liangchen County as the local people...

After the bill was signed, Gonggong Wei led the generals of the imperial army and the officials and people of the Ryukyus to witness the listing ceremony of the (temporary) Yamen of Weiliangchen County in Taipei, Taipei.

Cai Jin, the first prefect of the county, solemnly handed over the Ryukyu resident register to Wei Gonggong, as well as the archives and documents of various warehouses and tax offices.

Shang Ning, the honorary magistrate of the county, presented the seal of the former Ryukyu king and the edict of the emperor Ming to canonize the king of the Ryukyus in the past.

These will be temporarily kept by the Maritime Yamen of the Emperor Ming and returned after 99 years.

During the ceremony, Gonggong Wei called Shang Xian aside and said in a harmonious voice: "You do it well, don't think about anything, today's Liangchen County is the day of the rebirth of the people of the Ryukyus, and it is also the day of the rebirth of your Shang family... What do you do for the next county magistrate, understand? ”