After many years of fear, he finally inherited the throne, as long as the uncle went smoothly to the Ming Dynasty and was recognized by the Celestial Empire, his position would no longer be shaken, which was a great thing to make him feel relieved, but since the news of the war in the north came, the new king has been uneasy.

Over the course of two days, Shang Feng learned about the new enemy. The Song people, or Australians, who had suddenly appeared, used to trade only in the South Seas, and the various goods they produced were extremely exquisite, and he himself had seen some of them.

However, if the time goes back more than 100 years, maybe the Ryukyus will still have some conflicts of interest with them, but since the occupation of Manraka by the Franc Manchurians, the arms and contraband trade between the Ryukyus and the Nanyang city-states has been interrupted, and now Naha is just a transit between China and Japan, and if it were not for the squeeze of the sea trade space, it would never have focused on building a first-line trading town in Shuri.

This Song people, or Australians, what kind of wind did they smoke to put the good business of Nanyang and do not do it to come to Ryukyu trouble, if it is for trade with the Ming Dynasty, there is no need to go around this circle, and if it is for Japan, it is even more unreasonable, neither the shogunate nor Satsuma has ever intended to cut off the maritime trade, and now the discord with the Westerners is nothing more than to ban religion, and since the Australians occupied Luzon, this layer seems to have gradually disappeared.

But the most difficult thing about this matter is that there is no platform for communication between the Ryukyus and the Australian and Song dynasties, and there has never been contact in the past, and some trade is through the people, but I heard that there are merchant ships between Japan and Luzon to transport goods for the Australians, but it is only a rumor, and now it has to fight a war first, which makes the new king of the Ryukyus particularly anxious...... Of course he was anxious, the Song army did not burn and loot everywhere, and even deliberately stopped after capturing Pu Tian, but the pressure was increasing invisibly, because the news from the front made him feel that the combat strength of the Australians seemed to be stronger than the Japanese army back then.

After nightfall, he can only relieve his boredom through music, and on such a day, a song "Song of Peace" is the most suitable.

'Long live the Lord, Zhenzhongshan, eternal years. On the road of the Gongtian Dynasty, the sea does not raise waves. That's what he's always wanted to do.

But he couldn't stand the gloom of this song, and the war in front of him made people anxious, so he simply ordered a more up-to-date song, which combined Fuzhou Shiban, Ling Tune and Quanzhou Nanyin, and sang the lyrics with the Ryukyu three-line piano, which in Shang Feng's ears was a little more tranquil and comfortable that the Heavenly Empire should have.

'Outside the screen window-'

'Moon, moon shadow, slanted—yay—'

'Reflected on the beam—'

'Why do you have to fall asleep-yay-'

'Sit alone—'

Maybe it's touching the scene, this lovesick song that describes the empty guard of the boudoir makes Shang Feng feel melancholy.

But when he looked north through the screen window of the dormitory, he saw an incredible sight, and there seemed to be many more stars in the sky tonight.

Wrong! Shang Feng secretly said in his heart that it was not good.

Those stars are falling towards the royal city at a speed visible to the naked eye, what is going on?

The stars fell faster and faster, gradually turning into 'shooting stars', dragging their long red 'tails' and plunging headlong.

When the first flames burst in the courtyard of the women's quarters, a shrill scream rang out, accompanied by the sound of explosions.

Soon, the gold and money stores also went out of the water.

Shang Feng had just escaped to the Lower Imperial Court under the escort of the palace people, and the Fengshen Gate behind him was also ignited by the heavenly fire, but fortunately, the Lower Imperial Court was quite open, so that he was finally able to lean on the stone wall to the north to see what was happening.

But at first glance, the shock in the heart of the Ryukyu king was even more inexplicable, just in the direction of Urasoe Castle in the distance, a little bit of fire continued to rise into the air, flying towards Shuri Castle at night, the firelight threw an elegant arc, falling on Shuri Castle and the barracks of Longtan and Taiping Bridge in the north, and even the figures running away from the side of Longtan could be seen in the distance.

Another beam of heavenly fire exploded in the imperial prison behind him, this time Shang Feng heard it clearly, there was clearly a sound of metal colliding in the explosion, and he suddenly realized, could this be the firearm of the Song people?

The explosions came and went, and the three main halls on the side of the Upper Imperial Court were also set on fire one after another, and when viewed through the Fengshen Gate, the Upper Imperial Court was already like a hellish scene.

Finally, some officials and guards found the king, but they couldn't speak when they looked at each other.

This fashion Fengcai saw the true face of the bursting sky fire in the hands of the guards in the firelight, and the long black iron cylinder had been twisted and deformed, but it was obviously man-made, which also made him conclude once again that this thing was indeed a firearm of the Song people.

The officials rushed to advise, "I'm afraid that the defenders of Taiping Bridge will not work, Your Highness should have an idea as soon as possible, I'm afraid that after dawn, the Song army will attack." ”

Shang Feng looked dejected, his fingers trembling and pointing to the north, "Putian County is ten miles away from here, right?" ”

"Not too much." A minister said.

But the rest of the people immediately understood what the king meant, this night attack was obviously a firearm of the Song people, but at such a distance, this firearm could actually shoot it, although the power of this firearm was not much greater than that of a general rocket, but this feeling of having nowhere to hide at all was still terrifying.

The natural topography and sturdy stone walls of Shurigaoka were completely useless in the face of such firearms, leaving only one problem for the Ryukyu monarchs.

"Who can be the envoy to the Song camp?"

…………

At this time, on Urasoe Castle, a group of naval veterans were holding high-powered clairvoyance mirrors to confirm the results of the battle.

"This rocket is easy to use, but it's easy to use, that's it, if you really want to burn Shuri Castle, is it considered to destroy cultural relics? I think I traveled to Okinawa at the beginning, so I won't be able to see this Shuzato Castle again. Ma Qianhu quipped with his hands behind his back.

In 1844, the British inventor William Hale added three inclined stable spiral plates to the tail of the traditional Congreve rocket, so that when the rocket is launched, the arrow body rotates due to the aerodynamic force to achieve stability. This improvement increased the range of the Congreve rocket from 2.4 km to 4.5 km, while the machining level of the Ordnance Supervisor changed the original maximum range to an effective range, and the cast iron balance guide rod was shortened to three meters.

Zhang Deyu disagreed, "Destroy a fart, the one you see was rebuilt by the Japanese 92 years later, the original building Shimazu family burned down, and later the Americans also burned it, what?" They burned so much that our Fubo army couldn't burn? In my opinion, in addition to the stone wall in this Shouli City, the ancient buildings on it are useless, and they are all burned to avoid our efforts to demolish them. ”

The other person was from the Third Division, and he said regretfully, "It's really a waste." ”

Liu Dawu didn't pay attention to the fires in the distance, but said lightly: "Go to bed early, the messenger on the opposite side should arrive as soon as it dawns." ”

As the sun rises in the east, the temporary camp of the Fuba Army, located in the town of the south gate of Urasoe Castle, welcomes a special guest.

The person who came was in his fifties, wearing Oshima sleeves and a dark monk's robe inside, revealing an elegant atmosphere.

"Fan Yuan has seen several leaders." As soon as the monk saw Liu Dawu, the patriarch beside him saluted like a ritual.

Liu Dawu looked at the other party condescendingly, but he didn't make any moves, only said coldly, "It's been hard all the way." ”

After the previous report, the senators quickly obtained the information of the envoy through the headquarters, and this person was the imperial tea ceremony of the Shuri Palace, known as Min Boyuan, and he was an authentic Japanese. Twenty years ago, he crossed to the Ryukyus and became an attendant to the King of Shoning, and when Satsuma invaded, he returned to Japan with the captured Ryukyu royal family, and participated in the negotiations between Ryukyu and Satsuma and Edo.

As soon as Fang sat down, Liu Dawu said again: "I want to congratulate Min on entering the Dao first." ”

For this meeting, Shang Feng made an exception to grant Xi'an the rank of pro-party, and became a yellow hat official overnight, Liu Dawu's words seemed polite, but in fact, the intelligence gathering ability revealed in it had shocked Xi'an.

Min Fanyuan stood up again in panic, and said in an accent with Fujian official dialect: "Xia Bang does not know the majesty of the heavenly soldiers, and acts in a hurry, and hopes that the envoy will atone for his sins." ”

"Don't say polite words, since Shangfeng sent you, what are the plans of the Ryukyus."

"Naturally, I beg the kingdom to call off the army, but the kingdom has no need for it." Min Fanyuan looked respectful, for fear of offending this evil star who could cast fire and rain.

Liu Dawu snorted and laughed: "The words are beautiful, but my Da Song has always listened to his words and watched his deeds."

"The upper kingdom wants the lower state to do what it does, and I hope that the superior envoy will make it clear."

"Shang Feng resisted the Heavenly Soldiers, and he had to go back to Nanyang with us to ask the Senate for his guilt, and then he thought about it behind closed doors in Brunei City, and all the officials above the Qin Yun Shang who were registered in Shuri City must accompany him as one."

"This ......"

Min Fanyuan looked embarrassed, and he also wanted to remind Ryukyu that it was a vassal state canonized by the Ming Dynasty, even if he didn't look at Japan's face, he had to take into account the exploration and trade with the Ming Dynasty, but Liu Dawu didn't give him room for words.

"There's nothing to discuss, in addition, the Shimazu clan stole the Amami Islands, and even dared to resist the heavenly soldiers with Shang Feng, when this matter is over, you will go to Satsuma on our behalf to spread the word, and let the Shimazu family send someone to come and ask for guilt."

"I'm afraid it's a bit difficult."

"What's the difficulty? Ijiemon and the five hundred Satsuma troops are all in our hands right now, and there are dozens of them who are serious about the eight classics, not counting those who escaped at Taiheimqiao last night, and the re-transmission disciples of the dignified Sen Rikyu won't even be able to report to the gods, right? ”

Kang Yin, the tea master of Xi'an, was a disciple of Sen no Rikyu, but what he was surprised by was Liu Dawu's previous sentence, "What? Yamato Yokome is also here in the Heavenly Soldiers? ”

Itchi Chitaro Uemon is the third son of the Satsuma clan Ichi Chi Oshan Masashige, originally from Osumi Province Kokubun County. Ten years ago, he moved to the Ryukyus, which had been completely conquered by the Satsuma Domain, on the orders of Tadatsune, and was the chief officer of Yamato Castle, the center of Amami Oshima's rule.

As soon as these words came out, Min Fanyuan had nothing to say, and since the Amami Islands had fallen, the Japanese troops guarding it must not be able to escape, so it seems that the Song people did have the capital to talk to the Satsuma Domain about 'apologizing'.

At 10 o'clock in the morning of the next day, the ruins of Shuri Castle were cleaned up, starting from the pearl road outside the city through the Shouli, Huanhui, Zuisen, Leakage, and Gwangfuku gates, along the way by hundreds of heavily armed Fubo Army soldiers guarded layer by layer, and the east and west lookouts were also arranged with snipers and machine gun crews of bad people, and Shang Feng, who had been frightened for two nights, led dozens of civil and military officials above the fourth rank of the Ryukyus to bow down to the ground in the lower imperial court.

Originally, because the palace around the upper court was burned, he was worried about the safety of the patriarch so he arranged the place of surrender in the empty lower court, but he didn't expect the effect to be unexpectedly good.

Liu Dawu, who was in a good mood, happily took over the sword of the Ryukyu royal family and the golden seal, golden book, edict, and survey given by the Ming Dynasty in the gaze of the soldiers, and did not forget to 'comfort' Shang Feng, and said condescendingly and lightly - 'Good life transformation, new life.' ’

He doesn't have to worry about the rest of the things, all the Ryukyu officials present now will be sent to Nanyang by the Senate, and in the next month, the Fubo army will receive the land from place to island, and the various divisions who did not come today will have the opportunity to go to Nanyang to experience the new life of the Ao Song Dynasty, if they don't know each other, they will have to criticize and fight at the mass meeting, and there will be no shortage of places on the gallows that will be newly erected in Naha Port.

As for the people of Sakishima and Amami Islands, they will be mobilized even more, these places are all new lands conquered by the Ryukyu Kingdom in the past 100 years, and they have been ravaged by the Japanese army, and the people on them are not only mistreated, but even suffered from famine and are not allowed to emigrate elsewhere, Satsuma's tribute is more than a year, and the Ryukyus have lost the benefits of the South Seas trade, and all such heavy burdens have been passed on to ordinary islanders. The state-owned sugar farms and farms that have been planned to restore the ancient name of the Ryukyus according to the Tang system, which should be named because the island resembles a small dragon, can greatly enhance the loyalty of the islanders, as long as the people can be fed and clothed, most of the problems will be solved.

As for Satsuma, the Senate was also merciless, and the apology demands brought by Ki'an included the cession of Yakushima and Tanegashima in addition to the ransom of the captives. In addition to using Tanegashima as a port for trade with Satsuma, the senators also planned to support the Shimazu family in terms of armaments, so that it could act as a buffer against the shogunate, and add a layer of security to Shikoku's copper mountain in a year or two.

By the time the new crops are bumper next year, the place will be completely stable.

By this time, Ma Qianhu's team had been fully equipped, and the disguised team of ten people boarded a merchant ship from Guangzhou, along with their equipment, and the goods on board had now been exchanged for silver from the gold cache of Shuri Castle, and in a few days they would sail to Songjiang Mansion in the Ming Dynasty.

[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, "Uei Kakukane's Diary" Kamii Kakukane

10. "A Preliminary Study of Five Tunes in the Historical Materials of the Edo Tribute" Wang Yaohua