[Regarding the previous error in the identity of Ruan's Yuxiu due to historical data, in fact, she is the concubine of Zheng Song's son Zheng Jie, the previous text has been modified, but it does not affect the overall reading]

The blue canopy of the sky against the white puffy clouds, and the occasional seabird flying by, brought a little vividness to the scenery in front of you, and also made the light gray that had shrouded the kingdom for days disappear.

Under the canopy, there is a small city built of stone walls, which is not big by the standards of the Ming Dynasty or Japan. The gray stone walls are sometimes dotted with green trees and bright red buildings, showing vitality.

In the center of the stacked stone walls is a complex of several large palaces, including the main hall, the north hall, and the south hall of Shuri Imperial Castle.

Less than a month after his accession to the throne, King Shangfeng of Zhongshan sat on the main hall with a colorful crown on his head, unable to tell how he felt in his heart, and since he was released from Kagoshima, some of his good feelings about Japan have gradually turned into jealousy. Perhaps his kindness to the Japanese was the reason why he was selected by the Satsuma clan to become the crown prince of the Ryukyus, but his years of experience as regent had unmistakably taught him that only by maintaining neutrality between Japan and the Ming Dynasty could he retain his throne and this side of the country.

Soon after becoming the king of the Ryukyus, he sent Mao Fengchao, one of the three officials, to the Satsuma Domain to inform him of the accession to the throne, which was an initiative to show favor and at the same time lower his posture. Of course, the envoy to the Ming Dynasty has already been decided, the prince's uncle Mao Fengyi and the official doctor Cai Xian have been prepared early, Mao Fengyi as the special envoy of the king of Shangning to Fujian, it was he who brought a secret letter to expose the Satsuma Domain's use of troops against the Ryukyus, and he was also a loyal and diligent king.

Shang Feng knew very well in his heart that the reason why the Japanese did not directly occupy Sanshan eleven years ago was entirely because they hoped to take advantage of the special status of Ryukyu in the tributary system of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the Ryukyu royal family would be exiled to Kagoshima at that time, and where would there be a reason to put it back. Even the real purpose of going to the Ming Dynasty to ask for the title was that Satsuma instructed the Japanese to change the tribute to the Ming Dynasty from once every ten years to once every two years, and the Japanese were eager to realize trade with the Ming Dynasty through the Ryukyus to stabilize the shogunate's financial plan, which gave Shangfeng enough security at a certain level.

However, after more than ten years of operation, the power of the Satsuma Domain has extended to all aspects of the Ryukyus, and even in the Imperial Castle, this feeling will not be diminished in the slightest, but it is clear that today's issue is in a different situation.

Shang Feng had also heard of the Song people, or Australians, who claimed to be descendants of the former Song Dynasty when exquisite Australian goods appeared in the Ryukyus last year. However, any of the three officers or the relatives below had sworn to him not long ago that they had never heard of the Australian army before, but the 'Great Song Army' that came out of nowhere had raided the present-Nakijin Castle two days earlier, and the hundreds of guards guarding Kitayama and the Japanese troops who assisted in the defense were all wiped out, and the Song army captured the important town of Chatan in the north of Shuri a day later, and their naval army had landed in Dawan northwest of Chatani, and a fleet from the south had arrived off the coast of Naha. After that, according to the spies, the Song army, which was all dressed in clothes, directly crossed the Zhongcheng County and the surrounding villages that were not on the main road, and now the soldiers had arrived at Pu Tian, the last barrier north of the royal capital.

The enemy's march was the same as that of the Japanese army, except that this time the port of Naha did not seem to be able to put up an effective resistance, and the gun emplacements of the two fortresses on both sides of the harbor did not have the effect of defending at all, and the sea route was completely blocked by the Song. The speed of the Song people's advance is also chilling, it is said that they attacked Chatan-gun early yesterday morning, and now the fall of Guijin Castle is only a matter of the previous day, because of this, the kingdom seems to be passive everywhere in military response.

Under the throne, dozens of people sat on the ministers of the purple hat (note: the second rank or more of the Ryukyu official system) and the relatives and relatives of the yellow hat (note: the third to seventh grades of the Ryukyu official system), but it was terrifyingly quiet.

"Let's talk about it, how to deal with the current situation."

Shang Feng's meaning couldn't be more obvious, whether it's war or peace, you should come out with a charter.

Feng Jiancheng's relatives Mao Taiyun was the first to be breathless, he was the husband of Shangfeng's third sister Zuo Si Li, and his other identity was the son of Mao Jizu, an important minister of Zhongshan State, whose ancestors were the thirty-six surnames of the Fujian people who moved from Fujian during the Hongwu Dynasty, and they were also a big family in the country. His father broke the bottle in the war eleven years ago, and even asked himself to defend the national capital after the royal family was exiled to Japan, which can be regarded as a great contribution to Zhongshan. Now that Mao Jizu is old, his youngest son has a much tougher style.

"Now there are still hundreds of pro-army guards guarding Shuri Castle, and there are nearly 1,000 defenders of the surrounding Makiri Army and Toyomi Castle.

Mao Taiyun's strategy was very simple, when he fought with the Shimazu army, he suffered a loss in the division of troops, thinking that the Shimazu army was going to land by sea, but he refused to defend the shore everywhere, and when the Shimazu army attacked the Taiping Bridge, there were only 100 people who could go out of the city to fight in the field. This time, it is better to concentrate the elite to meet the Song army's land division in the north, one is that as long as the land battle is won, there will always be room for maneuver on the sea, and the other is to listen to the rumors of the land division of the Song army that the number of Song army land divisions is not large, but hundreds, and there are still prisoners of war, but the firearms are sharp.

The news from the front also confirmed that the Song army did not plunder the prefectures and counties along the way, let alone occupy the city all the way, but only captured several fortresses blocking the road in Zhongtou Zhongshan Mansion, so the supply of the other party is also very problematic.

"And ......," he added, "Hirata and Saruto, two elite feudal lords who also brought dozens of Satsuma with them, are asking them to help in today's battle. ”

The two Shimazu retainers of the Shimazu family, Hirata Okubo and Saruto Shinsuke, as the envoys of the Satsuma Domain, came to 'watch the ceremony' because of the accession of Shotoyo, and now they have not yet returned to China, and Mao Taiyun has always had a bad impression of the Japanese, so he just followed these words to lead the two out, if the Japanese refuse to come forward in this matter, the impact on the Ryukyus in the future will be greatly damaged.

Mao Fengyi finally spoke after listening to the words of her fellow clan, "If the war cannot be settled, and the tribute cannot be repaired, the two ambassadors must be able to understand this truth." ”

Shang Feng nodded yes after hearing this, "Uncle Lao has negotiated with these two in this matter." ”

…………

The Heira River is located about a mile north of Shurijo Castle, forming three small lakes of different sizes due north, and the narrow strip at the junction of the three small lakes forms a natural fortress, and the Taihei Bridge is the last gateway to the north of Shuri Castle. The army from the north crossed the Taiping Bridge, and then went to the national capital to be a horse and a flat river, and there was no danger to defend. At this moment, a large number of Makiri troops recruited from Shimajiri Minamiyamafu, under the leadership of the Shurito army, are assembling in the south of the bridge, and their goal is to rescue Urasoe Prefecture not far to the north, and the number is already in the thousands, and the number is still increasing.

In this army, you can also see a group of Satsuma samurai, because they came to watch the ceremony and did not prepare armor, they still wore the armor of the Shuri pro-army temporarily recruited, but they were also fully equipped, and most of them were equipped with arquebuses. Since the Satsuma Domain ran the Ryukyus, the Ryukyus have been much more armed than they were back then.

And all this has long been seen by a few people on the hills in the distance.

In the early morning of the second day after the capture of Nakihito Castle, the vanguard troops had marched 120 miles in a row to the foot of Chatan, probably because it came too quickly, and the local defenders did not even receive the news that Nakihito had fallen, and regarded the vanguard of the Fubo army as ordinary bandits, and the resistance lasted a little longer than expected, but the three hundred defenders were quickly defeated by the forward troops of the Fuba army, which were less than 100 people, and those Ryukyu defenders not only lacked firearms, but also had insufficient bows and arrows, It is evident that the system has been abandoned for a long time.

Perhaps having received the report of defeat from the front, the defenders of Urasoe Castle, which was only ten miles away, fled early, leaving only more than 200 Makiri troops to hold on. In less than an hour, the remaining capital of the kingdom of the Three Mountains Era was also breached. However, after the occupation of Uraso, the forward troops did not continue to move south, one was that the forward troops needed to be repaired after a long run, and the other was that the reinforcements were already on the way, and there was no need to rush lightly. After all, there are twenty or thirty villages and quarries on this road, although I heard from the rear that the lands of several villages around Guijin Castle have sent people to express their obedience yesterday, but the mentality of watching the wind is heavier, and the news is blocked at the moment, it is difficult to guarantee that there will not be a few small units that do not open their eyes to cause unnecessary losses to the Fubo army, and more importantly, the bad people have sent back the news that the main force of Shuri Castle has been assembled at the Taiping Bridge in the south.

The information in the hands of the Senate shows that after the US troops landed in Okinawa in World War II, the Japanese army also set up fortifications here for three weeks, withstanding the eleven attacks of the US army, which shows its natural conditions as a military fortress. Moreover, this place is less than ten miles away from Shuri Castle, which is really enough for the Fubo army.

Staying at Urasoe Castle is a good place to see the attitude of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and the Senate has other plans for this.

At this time, Hirata Shinogoro went west, but Hirata Shinogoro was quite excited to ask to see Ma Qianhu, "Report to the chief, Shuri Castle has already known the news of Putian, and now the elites near the left side of the royal capital have been stationed in the north of Taipingqiao, and have not come north again." As for the number of more than 1,000 people, there are also families under the city who set up a camp on the side of Longtan in the north of the city, and the little monk also found a group of Satsuma clansmen in it, all with iron cannons. ”

"Good intelligence gathering, I'll give you another credit this time." Ma Qianhu patted Shinogoro Hirata on the shoulder and praised.

"It's all the chiefs' artifacts are sharp, and with the clairvoyant mirror, the enemy has nothing to hide."

"You go down and rest, there are still things for you to do when you take the royal capital."

Hirata Shinogoro was secretly overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly retired from the court.

Soon after this person retreated, Liu Dawu rushed to Uratian, compared to Ma Qianhu and others who ran overnight, the commander-in-chief of the Ryukyu Raiders fleet was much easier, landing from Dawan, the land march to here is only more than 30 miles, and you can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of the coast along the way.

But Liu Dawu was not easy, and when he saw Ma Qianhu, he talked about business.

"Hu Barong sent a message, I'm afraid that the Shanghai branch of Wantong is in trouble, and the headquarters asked us to send a team of bad people to support, and the Privy Council means that you will lead the team."

"It's already that serious? Need to use military force? ”

"The cotton and eiderdown prepared for the north were robbed by the pirates, and most of them were found to be the black hands of the people of Songjiang Cloth Company, and now the weavers of Songjiang Mansion have been instigated, if there is really no way, there is only a few physical exterminations."

"Has the man been chosen? When to go? ”

"After cooking, you will leave here, you will choose the members of the group from among the elders of the north, and each unit will give priority to supporting your actions."

"Then we'll have to hurry."

"Don't worry, we'll find out tonight."

Ma Qianhu was slightly surprised when he saw Liu Dawu's expression, and saw that the soldiers he brought were moving heavy objects to the city, and huge boxes were rushing in from the city gate and heading towards Honmaru along the stone wall. Ma Qianhu had already inspected the city, the city building was burned down by the Shimazu army eleven years ago, and later rebuilt but not perfected, the vicinity of the main pill is still a flat open space, not even a tree full of scenery, but thinking of this, he seems to have a clear understanding in his heart, and he vaguely guessed a few points about what Liu Dawu was going to do.

[References]

1、《Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450-1680》Anthony Reid

2, "Sea Language" Huang Zhen

3. "Nanyang Yearbook"

4, "Xi'an Diary" Min's Xi'an pro-Fang entered the Taoist Fanyuan

5. Shen Fu of "Canonization of the Ryukyu Kingdom".

6, "The Legend of the Ryukyu Army"

7, "Making the Ryukyu Record" Chen Kan

8. "Chronicles of the Characters of the Domain", Kagoshima Prefecture Historical Materials Publishing Committee

9, "Kakukan Uei Diary" Kakukan Uei