The mission was ordered to visit Japan, but there was no intention to go to the Ryukyus, and Qian Bingrup originally wanted the fleet to replenish some fresh water and food at Shuri Castle, so he left the Ryukyus and went to Japan.

Two gunboats of the Ming Dynasty came to Ryukyu, which attracted the onlookers of the Ryukyuan people in the harbor, and the first one got the news, King Shangzhi, led dozens of Ryukyu officials and palace guards, and hurried to the dock to ask for a meeting.

The ladder stretched out from the Fu boat, and Qian Bingrup straightened his clothes and got off the boat. King Shang Zhi did not know the purpose of the mission, he saw a crimson official robe, a jade belt around his waist, a black sand on his head, and soap boots on his feet, leading several blue-robed officials down the ladder one by one, his heart was instantly surprised, and at the same time, his heart was overjoyed.

The Ryukyu country is small, only as big as a small county in the Ming Dynasty, although the king of the Ryukyus is the king of the county, but every time the Ming Dynasty comes to proclaim the decree, it has always been six or seven green robes, and even eight or nine green robes, this time there is actually a four-grade scarlet robe, and the king of Shang Zhen should bow down and say: "The little king of the lower country, welcome the envoy of the heavenly dynasty!" ”

In this era, Chinese civilization is the center of East Asia, the cultural supergiants, the dwarfs around them, their hearts are very yearning, to Korea, Annam, Ryukyu, and even the upper class of the Japanese aristocracy is proud to write Chinese characters and speak Chinese, just like in Europe not long after, the aristocracy and the royal family have to speak French, so that they seem to have their own class, different from ordinary people.

The Ryukyu officials behind were slightly stunned when they saw the Ryukyu King bowing down, and the two officials at the head glanced at each other and hesitated for a moment before leading everyone to kneel.

Qian Binglu's attention was on the King of the Ryukyus, and he did not notice the hesitation of the ministers behind, he did not have the letter of state from the imperial court to the Ryukyus, and he did not represent the Son of Heaven, and the King of the Ryukyus was a county king after all, and it stands to reason that he could not accept this worship.

"Your Highness! Misunderstanding! Qian Bingrup hurriedly stepped forward and helped the king of the Ryukyus up, "This official is not an envoy to the Ryukyus, but has other official business, just leave after the supply in Shuri, His Royal Highness and the Ryukyus don't have to be polite, just act as usual." ”

"Your Excellency is not an envoy to Ryukyu?" King Shang Zhi's heart was shocked, and a trace of urgency couldn't help but appear on his face, and he hurriedly asked, "Then I don't know when the adults will leave?" ”

Qian Bingrup said with a smile: "This official has a mission from the imperial court, and after the supply, he will leave immediately, so the king of the Ryukyus doesn't have to break the bank." ”

Hearing this, King Shangzhi was slightly silent, his face was a little tangled, he suddenly grabbed Qian Bingji's arm, and said with a hint of pleading: "My lord, you must let Xiao Wang do a little bit of landlord friendship." ”

Qian Bingjian frowned slightly, before leaving, the king of Chu had an explanation, he must complete the trip to Japan as soon as possible and open up the Japanese market, he didn't want to waste time on eating and drinking, and was about to refuse, but Xu Junsheng on the side felt a hint of clues, stepped forward, and said to Qian Binglu: "My lord, it's getting late, and it's okay to stop for one night in Shuri." ”

"Then rest for the night." Qian Bingrup was slightly stunned, and then his chin fell.

The king of the Ryukyus was overjoyed, hurriedly turned sideways to get out of the way, stretched out his hand and said, "The little king is holding a banquet in the palace, my lord, please!" ”

Qian Bingjian had to walk away, Wu Junsheng asked his subordinates to be optimistic about the lucky boat, ordered people to replenish supplies and fresh water, and then led more than a dozen soldiers to accompany him.

As soon as everyone left, the Ryukyuan people who were watching gradually dispersed, and two samurai wearing kimonos and shaving their heads and holding Japanese swords outside the crowd spoke Japanese crookedly, and then left in a hurry.

On the way to the Ryukyu Palace in Shuri Castle, Qian Bingrup found an opportunity and asked in a low voice: "Dawang, why did you let this official have a banquet with the King of the Ryukyu, this is not in accordance with the rules!" ”

Xu Junsheng whispered: "My lord, the last general just feels that it is a little abnormal, it seems that in addition to the king of the Ryukyus, the other officials of this Ryukyu country are not too enthusiastic about you. The king of the Ryukyus repeatedly asked, and the adults were also gracious, so it was better to rest for the night, and it didn't matter. ”

Qian Bingjian was slightly stunned, hearing Xu Junsheng say this, he really felt a little wrong.

Ryukyu is a small country, and the royal palace occupies a small area, and the palace size is not large.

Everyone came to a large hall to feast, the way was also the popular meal system before the Song Dynasty, everyone knelt on the floor, and a table was placed in front of them, which was filled with all kinds of food and melons and fruits.

Although Ryukyu is small, it is known as "Wankoku Tsuryung" because of its location at the node of trade, and the area is very rich.

The country is small and rich, like a child walking on a road full of bandits with gold in his arms, which is a very dangerous thing.

Pifu is innocent of his crimes, and Ryukyu has always hugged Daming's thigh in order to protect himself. In that year, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched a campaign to conquer Korea and asked Ryukyu to provide money and grain, but Ryukyu not only did not agree, but informed the Ming Dynasty of the matter.

After a while, a sense of disobedience was even worse, and Qian Bingrup found that in addition to the Ryukyu king's frequent persuasion of him to drink, other Ryukyu officials rarely spoke to him, and many of them even did not speak Chinese.

At that moment, he frowned, put down his wine glass, and said directly: "This official has been running around the sea for days, and he is also a little tired, so let's stop here for today's banquet!" You wait to retreat first, and the official has a few words to say to His Highness, and go to rest when you are done. ”

Hearing this, a Ryukyu official who had been cold-faced stood up and said a few words in Ryukyuan.

A Ryukyuan interpreter beside Qian Bingrup hurriedly said in his ear: "My lord, he said that it is inappropriate for the Ming officials to stay in the palace, and please go to the post house to rest." ”

When Xu Junsheng on the side heard this, he was immediately furious, stood up and said, "Bold, I, a person from the Heavenly Empire, don't you know how to be polite?" Lord Qian has something to say to the king of the Ryukyus, and he has to stay in the palace, so he wants you to talk too much! Not all quit yet! ”

The atmosphere in the palace was cold for a while, and the official listened to the translation, and his face also leaked anger, and King Shangzhi, who was on the throne, hurriedly said a Ryukyu dialect, and the official retreated with a cold face.

Xu Junsheng also led a few officers out of the palace and stood outside them to wait, and the strange thing was that the officials were also standing not far away with a group of people, and did not leave the palace, as if they were not relieved until they left.

In the main hall, after King Shang Zhen and everyone went out, he hurriedly retreated left and right, and then hurriedly walked to Qian Bingji, suddenly bowed down, and said bitterly: "Xiao Wang begs the Heavenly Dynasty to save Ryukyu!" ”

At this time, Qian Bingrup was already mentally prepared, knowing that something must have happened to the Ryukyus, he helped up the king of the Ryukyus, and said: "Is it the right minister to make trouble and set up the lord?" Your Highness can rest assured that the imperial court has already ordered the year before, but as long as I belong to the Ming Dynasty, I have the obligation to ensure the stability of the royal family, if someone wants to rebel, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably send troops to help His Highness stabilize the country. ”

In order to strengthen the influence of the subject countries, mainly to control the market of the subject countries and facilitate trade, the Ming Dynasty changed the unilateral tributary state policy in the past and re-established the relationship with the vassals.

The Ming Dynasty got economic and political benefits from the vassals, and naturally had to make some efforts to ensure the stability of the subject countries, and only by helping the royal family of the subject countries to maintain the local rule, the subject countries would follow the Ming Dynasty.

Qian Bingrup looked at the official just now, and thought that the safety of the Ryukyu King was threatened, but the Ryukyu King shook his head, "My lord, it's not that the ministers rebelled, but that the Ryukyus have been controlled by the Japanese State and the Satsuma Domain, and the ministers of the country are all pro-Japanese people, and many officials are even directly Japanese." ”

Qian Bingrup was shocked when he heard this, he didn't expect the King of Ryukyu to say this, he was about to go to Japan, and such a thing would happen. For a while, his face sank, "When is it, why don't you sue the Heavenly Empire!" ”

"My lord, this incident has been going on for many years, and the Shimazu family invaded the Ryukyus in the 37th year of Wanry, with the permission of the shogunate. At that time, the Celestial Empire was too busy to take care of itself, and the first king was in the hands of Japan, so he didn't dare to report it! ”

"Thirty-seven years of Wanli?" Qian Bingrup took a breath of cool air, "So, Japan has controlled the Ryukyus for more than 40 years?" ”

Qian Bingrup was a little angry, and without waiting for the King of the Ryukyus to speak, he continued: "According to the knowledge of this official, the tribute of the Ryukyus to our dynasty has not been cut off in the past forty years, why don't you report it, and since you surrender to Japan, why do you still come to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute!" ”

"My lord, this is because the Japanese side doesn't want the Ming side to know, they are afraid of causing a war, and they don't want to lose the tributary trade, and the attack of the flowing ball is controlled by the Japanese side!"

At this time, the Ming Dynasty spent money to raise a concubine, but the concubine was slept with by someone else, and that person still spent the money of the Ming Dynasty and was a big wrongdoer for more than 40 years.

Qian Bingji's face was gloomy, and he asked angrily: "Then the last time the imperial court parade, why didn't the envoy of the flowing ball say, is that also sent by Japan?" ”

"My lord is angry, before the Celestial Dynasty was worried about internal and external troubles, and the Ryukyus considered that the Celestial Dynasty had no time to take care of the Ryukyus, and was afraid of Japan, so he never said it. The last envoy was Xiao Wang, who secretly sent him after hearing that the Heavenly Dynasty had recovered the Southern Capital, just to understand the situation of the Heavenly Dynasty, and then decide whether to reveal the truth like the Heavenly Dynasty. The envoy returned to Liuqiu and told Xiao Wang about the military power of the Celestial Empire, which made Xiao Wang's confidence soar, and he wanted to ask the Celestial Empire to help Ryukyu get rid of the Shimazu family, but because the matter was not confidential, it was known to the Japanese side, so everything in Ryukyu was now under the control of the Japanese side. ”

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