"Your Majesty, in the Ryukyus, there are pro-Japanese and anti-Japanese factions. The pro-Japanese faction regarded themselves as Japanese, but they were not willing to be attached to the Satsuma Domain, but wanted to establish their own feudal domain directly under the shogunate. The anti-Japanese faction, nominally oriented to China, hoped to restore tributary relations and become a nominal subject state of the Ming Dynasty, but its purpose was only to use the prestige of the Ming Dynasty to maintain the semi-independent state of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and it was their dream to become an independent country. The Ryukyu princess Xiang Yuanzhen was the one who hit this idea. However, whether they were pro-Japanese or anti-Japanese, they were not very satisfied with the rule of the Satsuma Domain, and it was very likely that Lucia would take advantage of it......"

The big man Saigo Takanaga stood in the conference room of Fort Maria with a heavy face, and explained the situation in the Ryukyus to Zhu Jishi and Luo Zenan very dutifully. Saigo, who is now an instructor at the Royal Army Military Academy, was born as a Satsuma clan and has been to the Ryukyu Kingdom, so he can really be called a Ryukyu expert. When I heard that Russia, Britain, and the United States were preparing to jointly attack the Ryukyus and Japan, I was naturally very anxious.

However, Zhu Jishi was still calm and calm, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Fortunately, he didn't covet a false name to be the suzerain of the Ryukyus before, otherwise he wouldn't want to stay out of it at this time - but then again, if the Ming Dynasty was the suzerain of the Ryukyus Kingdom, most of the three countries would not dare to attack. Isn't there no one in the current Korean kingdom who dares to touch it? Not only did they stubbornly close themselves off from the rest of the country, but their parliamentary government had recently banned the spread of Catholicism and killed many Catholics, and none of the Catholic powers such as France and Spain dared to raise their voices in protest.

However, the Chinese vassal of the Korean Kingdom was "sincere", not only serving Zhu Jishi as the monarch. He also gave Emperor Zhu an annuity of 300,000 silver dollars every year, and also handed over the monopoly of foreign trade and the right to mint coinage. There is a gain only if you give, and you don't want to pay like Ryukyu. I just want to use such false entries as "calling Your Majesty the ancestor", "Xingda next year", and "respecting the Ming Dynasty in official uniforms". Of course, Emperor Zhu will not use them as a shield in vain. If it weren't for Sino-Japanese relations, he wouldn't mind sending troops to destroy the Ryukyu Kingdom, but that would probably lead to the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and Japan's early path to capitalism. So he simply ignored the objections of the courtiers and kicked the Ryukyus out of the country.

"How many troops did the Safan have in the Ryukyus? And how many troops did the Ryukyu Kingdom have of its own? How is the armament? Military advisor Luo Zenan interjected and asked.

"I don't know what the situation is now, but a few years ago, Satsuma's troops in the Ryukyus were only a few hundred, and the Ryukyus' own troops were only a few hundred. The armament consisted only of ordinary arquebuses and light smoothbore guns. Saigo Takayong replied.

The deployment of the Satsuma Domain's forces in the Ryukyus is a secret, and Saigo Takanaga has been out of the domain for many years, so of course there is no way to know. In fact, he did not know as much as Rozenando. Jin Yiwei also arranged eyeliner spies in the Ryukyus. According to the report of Nishikiwei, there were no more than seven or eight hundred Satsuma feudal troops and feudal lords in the Ryukyus, and about half of them were armed with smoothbore guns and arquebuses, and there were no more than a dozen cannons available. Both are 6-pounder and 9-pounder cannons. And there are no flowering bombs and shotguns, so it's basically just an ornament. As for the Ryukyu Kingdom itself, the force is even weaker, and it is not worth mentioning at all. After all, Satsuma practiced colonial rule in the Ryukyus, which of course limited the Ryukyu state's own force.

At this time, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and the secretary Weng Tongyi sent another urgent telegram to Zhu Jishi. Zhu Jishi's palaces in Yingtianfu are the Forbidden City and Fort Maria, both of which have telegraph lines, so the news from Hong Kong can be sent to Emperor Zhu at any time.

"The Ryukyu Kingdom can't be saved!" Zhu Jishi opened the copy of the telegram and looked at it, shook his head and said, "The Russian fleet has already departed. 24 warships, with at least 1,000 cannons on board. There were no less than six thousand sailors, and possibly marines...... On the Japanese side, I don't know about this situation, right? ”

Saigo Takanaga only felt a pain in his heart, in his opinion, the Ryukyu Kingdom had long been part of Japan and the Satsuma Domain......

"I've already sent a clipper to Yokohama."

Luo Zenan's answer made Saigo even more desperate. If it is too late to send a clipper to Kagoshima, it may be possible to go to Yokohama...... However, the Ming did not badly either, they never had official dealings with any of the Japanese domains.

Zhu Jishi sighed and said, "Ten years of the army, a hundred years of the navy...... In the end, the Russian Navy is also a century-old navy, and with these 24 warships alone, our Ming Navy can't deal with it, let alone Japan? The Ryukyu Kingdom can't be saved, but Japan itself can't let Tsarist Russia get involved in any case! He looked at Saigo Takayong and said solemnly, "Saigo, I order you to leave for Shanghai immediately, take the Navy's clipper to Japan, and bring my handwritten letter to General Jiakei." I will then send a naval fleet to Japan for reinforcements, and if necessary, the army will soon be able to do so. Until then, Japan must hold on and must not make concessions to the Russians...... Otherwise, the Western powers will come one after another, and it will be difficult for Japan to maintain its status as an independent country! ”

……

"Your Majesty, do you really want to send troops to Japan? Our navy is not strong, and the Russians have drawn Britain and the United States again, I am afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses if we really want to fight, please think twice! ”

"Yes, our country is the first decision, and all kinds of waste are waiting to be rebuilt, now is not the time to fight, but we must not spoil the overall situation because of temporary righteousness......"

Zuo Zongtang and Zheng Hong, the two prime ministers, also rushed to Fort Maria after getting the news, and when they heard that Zhu Jishi had decided to send troops to aid Japan, they were all taken aback, and hurriedly spoke up to persuade them.

Zhu Jishi sneered and said, "If the Russians only want to attack the Ryukyu Kingdom, I can only treat it as nothing." However, in order to curry favor with Britain, they were ready to force Japan to open the country, which was a slap in the face by Alexander himself, and I was polite. Do you think that if you don't make a move, the Japanese won't be able to deal with more than 20 Russian ships? ”

Can Japan withstand twenty-four Russian warships and several thousand Russian soldiers? Zuo Zongtang shook his head and expressed disbelief. Zheng Hong touched his beard and twisted his eyebrows and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers know that the people of Lu Dao are fierce, and the samurai are even more fearless of death, which is indeed not comparable to North Korea." However, the emperor should still be defensive about them, and he should not support them too much......"

Zheng Hong himself probably has a trace of Japanese ancestry, and he was born as a pirate, so he knows more about Japanese affairs than Zuo Zongtang, and he actually knows that he wants Zhu Jishi to beware of Japan.

Zhu Jishi smiled indifferently: "Zheng Qing, the matter of colonizing the Northeast has been on track, and you have been idle recently, so it is better to go to Japan on behalf of me and help General Tokugawa resist Russia." ”

Zheng Hong was stunned for a moment, looked at Zhu Jishi and said, "The emperor asked his ministers to go to Japan...... Do you have any special attention? ”

Zhu Jishi looked at Zuo Zongtang and Luo Zenan.

Zuo Zongtang said: "The minister thinks that the policy towards Japan should be consistent, and our country should not participate too much in Japan's internal affairs. ”

Luo Zenan nodded and said: "What Prime Minister Zuo said is true, but in the past two years, there have been rumors in Japan that the king has been arrogant, and the minister thinks that my country still needs to pay attention to one or two." ”

Honoring the king is against the shogunate, and the rebellion is a big banner, which does not make much sense. And the "king" of Japan, that is, the emperor, has no strength at all, and now he is also a big banner. The purpose of some people to raise these two banners is, of course, to oppose the shogunate. In fact, Japan is also surrounded by internal and external troubles, and the reproduction of the samurai class in the country has exceeded the capacity of the feudal economy and cannot be arranged, so these people jump up and down at every opportunity.

"Zheng Qing, when you arrive in Japan, you must take a firm stand and support the Tokugawa shogunate." Zhu Jishi pondered and said, "Although the rule of the shogunate is not justified, it is in the interests of my Ming Dynasty, and it can also keep Japan stable. You are the prince of my Ming Dynasty, and after arriving in Japan, there should be a Japanese prince to come forward to receive you, and the Japanese royal faction is very likely to use such an opportunity to contact you, you can be perfunctory. ”

"I understand."

Zhu Jishi added: "I also plan to recruit a mercenary army in Japan for the future war against Russia. Zheng Qing, when you see Tokugawa Iekei, can you mention it to him...... Let's just say that what I need is someone who is skilled in martial arts and is not afraid of hardships and dangers. (To be continued......)