"This is eleven years of protection, only eleven years...... The Shimazu family has been standing here for more than a hundred years, and no amount of suffering can crush the Shimazu family, whether it is from the east or from the west! ”

Kyushu Island, Kagoshima Castle, is different from ordinary castles, and there is no castle tower in this steep castle built against the coast. The sea breeze was whistling and the city was blowing, and Shimazu Jitoyo, the fifth generation of the Satsuma Domain, faced the cold of the sea breeze, and muttered in a low voice.

"Temple ......"

The old man Shimazu Sheng often came, and the trembling tone and hurried pace made Shimazu Jitoyo's originally rock-solid face in the sea breeze suddenly collapse.

"The public side is not allowed to postpone the visit to the shrine, nor is it allowed to postpone the repair of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and the stone reduction is also ......"

Before Shimazu Sheng finished speaking, he saw the feudal lord's figure flicker, and he hurriedly held on, and he felt that the feudal lord's body was as cold as a stone.

"This is not a disaster for the Satsuma clan, this is a disaster for the whole world! The twin demon dragons that came across the sea are even more ferocious than the Mongols, and the public side wants our Satsuma Domain to perish, and then open the door to Japan, and let the demon dragon come in and swallow the whole world!? ”

"We have been oppressed for more than 100 years, up to the imperial front, down to our vassals, and we are so miserable that we can't even afford to eat rice balls! Now that the great enemy is present, the Satsuma Domain is fighting for the world, and we have to bear the burden of errands, and the public side has lost the morality of the lord! ”

"Five years ago, when the Kiso River embankment was repaired, more than 30 of our feudal lords died, and they were either exhausted or starved to death! Do you remember the Yuli Palace!? What did he say before he died, holding the hand of the Emperor? What did you say!? ”

In the mansion, the old ministers of the Shimazu family cried and shouted, and the sound of kowtowing like raindrops woke up Shimazu Jitoyo who was in a trance.

As a feudal lord, you had to go to Edo regularly in person and listen to the messengers in front of the prince (shogun), which was the custom of the feudal lord to offer himself to the shogun, just like the requirement that the feudal lord's wife must live in Edo. For the feudal lords, especially the Satsuma Domain, which was the farthest away from Edo, every time they visited the shrine, they had to bleed hemorrhage, and at least 60,000 taels of silver were spent.

The repair of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, like the Kiso River Dam mentioned by His Majesty, was a commissioned project assigned by the government to the feudal clans, and the focus was not on the work, but on the fact that the prince did not have sufficient finances under the Xiwang domain, and this project was 50,000 taels.

It was Tokugawa Yoshimune, the prince of this generation, who set off a tide called the "Preservation Reform" and increased the annual tribute to the feudal domains. 100 stone per 10,000 koku, 770,000 koku in the Satsuma domain's fiefdom, but the actual output is less than half, but it has to be increased according to this number.

The Ryukyus were lost, and the annual income of the Satsuma Domain plummeted from 800,000 taels to 500,000 taels, and to feed so many feudal warriors, and to deal with the tribute of more than 100,000 taels, and to reorganize the army to resist the upcoming demon dragon army, this account can't be calculated, does the public really want the Satsuma Domain to destroy the domain!?

Shimazu Jitoyo's thoughts just slipped for a moment, and he was immediately torn apart by this heavy account. As the lord of the Satsuma Domain, he has adhered to a tradition for more than 100 years, which is also passed down by the first generation of Meshimazu Tadashi, that is, to settle accounts, even if it is a small judgment, it is necessary to calculate the dealings.

Why? Because of the Satsuma Domain...... It's too poor.

The predecessor of the Satsuma Domain, the Shimazu family in the Warring States Period, was about to unify Kyushu, but was suppressed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with the power of the world, and was forced to spit out most of the land in Kyushu. From the time the Satsuma clan was established, it was burdened with heavy financial burdens.

The land of the Satsuma clan was barren and had no culture of its own, and the Satsuma samurai were known for their bravery, but they were not good at management, and their lives were extremely hard, and the food and clothing of the retainers were not much better than those of the peasants. The most important reason why Shimazu Tadashi attacked the Ryukyus back then was a poor character. …,

If you get the Ryukyus, you can't swallow them completely, because the shogunate still has to use the Ryukyus to connect with China. The Satsuma clan had to rely on the smuggling trade in the Ryukyus and brown sugar from the Amami Islands to supplement its finances. The Ichi-feudal clan was only on the verge of starvation, and was still struggling between half-satiety and half-starvation, and because the shogunate did not want the Satsuma clan to be fed, it was always difficult in every way, and this struggle was even more difficult.

"Yuli said, the lord has no benevolence, and the minister has no righteousness! The public side is steaming and killing our Satsuma Domain! We should ......"

"Unveil it!"

"That's right! It's against the public! ”

His Majesty's call finally brought Shimazu Jitoyo's soul back to his place, and he roared angrily, "I was defeated by the public side like this!? This is what the public side sees the most, right!? Taking the opportunity of suppressing the rebellion, we completely wiped out our Satsuma Domain, and the 770,000 stone domain was broken down into 770,000 stone small domains, what the monkey didn't do, what the turtle didn't do, and what the previous princes didn't do, you all helped them do it! ”

The subordinates fell to the ground and wept bitterly, and the scene was extremely sad.

Shimazu Jifeng gritted his teeth and said: "For more than 100 years, we are not fighting with the public, we are fighting with ourselves!" No matter how poor and miserable we are, we can all live! Now the public side is not our enemy, the real enemy is the demon dragon in the south! Even if it's not for the whole world, it's for ourselves, we have to work hard to live! We won't fail! ”

That's right, the dragon...... The demon dragon is the greatest enemy, and this enemy Yijing has intimidated the Satsuma clan for four or five years.

As early as six or seven years ago, the Satsuma clan knew that a great Britain had risen to the south of China, defeated the powerful Qing state, and controlled the whole of Nanyang. Even the Spaniards, who occupied Luzon, were driven away. The Chinese merchant ships that traveled to and from the Ryukyus were all hung with the terrifying twin dragon flags, which are said to be the "national crest" of the "British Dynasty" and the origin of the "British Dynasty" being called the magic dragon.

Although the Satsuma clan benefited from the frequent travel of British merchant ships to and from the Ryukyus, the attitude of the other party in the Ryukyus as a "heavenly kingdom" made the Satsuma clan even more worried. "The Fifteenth Article" is just a secret agreement, which was not leaked to the Ming Dynasty before, and then it was not dared to be leaked to the Qing Dynasty, and now it is also not dared to be leaked to the British who claim to be the Zhengshuo of China.

Five years ago, the British "huge fleet" finally came to Ryukyu to assert their suzerainty, and since then, Ryukyu has ceased to be the backyard of the Satsuma domain, but a line of fire. The officials of the Satsuma clan stationed in the Ryukyus were either killed or committed suicide, and the Ryukyus relied on the weak Liliang and the arrogance of the demon dragon to drag the war down, but the Satsuma clan also paid too much sacrifice for it.

The biggest sacrifice is still the two thousand reinforcements sent three years ago, not expecting to recapture the main island of the Ryukyus, just Xiwang to defend the Amami Islands, which produce brown sugar, but not Xiangdao These two thousand people were all killed by the army of the demon dragon, when the news spread Huilai, a feudal clan cried all night, that was two thousand feudal people, hundreds of retainers!

The third son of King Shokei, Shomu, and the Ryukyu officials, who had taken refuge in Kagoshima Castle, had long mentioned the fierceness of the dragon warships and the fierceness of the "blue-clothed people", and the retainers who fled from Huilai even cried out about the indestructibility of the "red-clothed people". More than 100 years ago, the Satsuma clan conquered the Ryukyus with 700 iron cannons. But the Demon Dragon Army is all armed with iron cannons, it is said that ten people hold a big cylinder, and there is a national collapse that splits mountains and rocks, this is not all the liliang of mortals, it is simply the Demon Army descending into the world!

Shimazu Jitoyo was scattered and urgently asked for help from Edo, but was splashed head-on by a basin of ice water. Tokugawa Yoshimune, who was young and strong and arrogant, didn't believe his words at all, but thought that he was crying poor as always, and said sarcastically, Isn't Ryukyu owned by your Satsuma domain? Out of the Japanese Bandits, can't even fulfill the duty of protecting their own territory?

Shimazu Jimune understood, the prince was far away in Edo, and he didn't know what had changed in China, what kind of shijie was outside the world, and he Satsuma Domain was the western gate of the world, just in front of the demon army. That demon army, holding the liliang that destroys the world, Ryukyu is just the first step, Satsuma Domain is just the second step, the ultimate goal of the demon army, but the whole world .........,

He and the entire Satsuma clan struggled to survive in fear, and after three years, the nightmare still came, the fleet of the demon dragon had appeared on the surface of Tanegashima Island, and it is said that the sails covered the sky and the sun, although there were not the same huge ships that appeared in the Ryukyus before, but they were still larger than the largest Ataku ship in the world, and they carried the heart-wrenching collapse of the country.

Shimazu Jitoyo accentuated his tone: "We will not lose!" Amagasu is on our side! We have a kamikaze! There is the integrity of the Satsuma samurai! There is the glory of blocking the army of the demon dragon for the whole world! ”

Hearing the firm tone of the head of the family, the retainers also stopped crying, and their eyes were filled with an awe-inspiring and unyielding light, that's right! The glory of the Satsuma samurai cannot be ruined by their generation! Even if the public side is dragging behind their backs, even if the demon army is extremely strong, they will fight to the death, even if they are all killed, they can let the world see the loyalty and courage of their Satsuma samurai!

Shimazu Jitoyo's face was calm, but he kept dialing the abacus beads in his heart, is there any chance of redemption? If the other party only claims the suzerainty of the Ryukyus, what conditions should he put forward to compensate for the losses without angering the demon dragon?

Just as Xiangdao was here, a terrible cry sounded in the hall that had just calmed down.

"Temple! We have respected the Satsuma clan for more than 100 years, and the palace must not abandon us! ”

It was Ryukyu Shomu, who used his hands and feet at the same time, climbed in front of Shimazu Jitoyo, and kowtowed vigorously.

"The British handed an ultimatum ......"

Accompanying Shang Mu in was the Ryukyu San's official Kamiya Mountain's pro-Yasuyoshi, also known as Tori Kazuyoshi, who seemed to be crushed by great pain and his internal organs changed.

Diplomatic note!

The retainers jumped to their feet, swaying like monkeys in a tree, showing their nervousness and indignation.

Shimazu Moritsune took the letter, and his eyebrows jumped as he read it, and the necks of the surrounding retainers rose and fell to the beat of the eyebrows.

"Temple...... The British wanted us to escort messengers to Edo and assert their suzerainty over the Ryukyus to the Dukes. ”

After a long while, Shimazu Moritsune spit out such a sentence, and there was silence in the hall for a while, and then there was a long breath of spitting, which scared him to death, it turned out that it was not an ultimatum to their Satsuma Domain......

Shimazu Jitoyo's face did not change, but his spine softened, and there was a sweet and greasy sense of brown sugar in his heart. This dragon is so ...... Lovely! The Satsuma clan begged Edo for support, but there was no response, thinking that he would defend himself against the demon dragon army, but he didn't want the demon dragon to take the initiative to find Edo!

I was confused, I didn't know what the essence of the "Fifteen Articles" was, and I thought that Edo was the mastermind behind the treaty. First the Ming Dynasty, then the Qing Dynasty, and now the Great Britain, have always made this kind of mistake, when this world is the world of Huaxia Shenzhou, the lord can dominate everything. The mistake that the Ming Dynasty made in Toyotomi Taiko back then is now being repeated in our Satsuma Domain.

"Good! We escort! ”

Shimazu Jifeng simply forgot that Shang Mu, who was still lying on the ground in front of him, said so resolutely and forcefully.

"Why do you have to go around in such a big circle? The Ryukyus were a vassal of the Satsuma Domain, and this matter was ironclad, and Edo was actually far from it. ”

On the sea on the west side of Tanegashima, four slender cruisers were quietly moored, and there were more than a dozen sea carp ships around to escort them.

"If we don't fight, how do the Japanese know that we are powerful? Yes, the Satsuma clan should know that we are powerful, but the Satsuma clan does not bow its head, and the pro-Japanese Ryukyuan people will always feel that they still have a backer. And the Satsuma Domain...... It's a group of poor people with extremely hard necks, and the difficulty of asking them to admit defeat is greater than the difficulty of defeating the shogunate navy, so ...... Let's choose the easy things to do. ”

Bai Yanding was surrounded by an old man, dressed as a citizen, but the tone of his voice seemed to be educating Bai Yanding, and the pride in his words was like the vicissitudes in his eyes, which couldn't stop overflowing. ..., "Boss Fan is saying, let's fight against the Japanese navy!?" ”

Bai Yanding's eyes widened, both excited and nervous. Japan is not Ryukyu, not Cochin, not even Siam, although the shogunate is closed to the country, but more than 100 years ago it was able to transport more than 100,000 or 200,000 troops across the sea to attack Korea, and Liliang on the sea should not be underestimated. If the Anglo-Chinese navy is pressed, he has no worries, but at the moment he only has these four cruisers and thirteen frigates, and this matter seems to be a bit hanging.

The old man smiled: "Scared? ”

Bai Yanding shook his head: "I just don't quite understand, why does Boss Fan think that it is more effective to bypass the Satsuma Domain and directly knock the shogunate?" ”

Boss Fan...... It turned out that this old man was actually Fan Sihai, who caused a maritime turmoil in Guangdong and Fujian, and calculated that he was tried by Li Shi with military law, and the sentence of exile to Funan had also arrived, but somehow, he actually followed the fleet led by Bai Yanding and ran to Japan.

Another voice said: "Because we are here, we have to solve not only the affairs of the Ryukyus, the Ryukyus are just a springboard to Japan, how can we abandon the basics and plan everything with the Ryukyus first?" ”

This person is the general director of the Bo Ni Company, Chen Xinghua, who was formerly the director of Nan Cao, the Privy Council's Coastal Defense Department, of course, the previous position has become a thing of the past, and now he is the boss of the Coastal Defense Department.

Fan Sihai nodded: "That's right, Ryukyu is our springboard to Japan, but it's only the first half, the second half is the Satsuma Domain, if you hold the Satsuma Domain, not only can you build a stable bridge, but the Ryukyu matter is also solved." ”

Another person said: "Don't look so far ahead, let's just look at the Satsuma Domain." ”

With a heavy face and an eager light of shame in his eyes, this person was none other than Feng Jingyao, the boss of the Plug Defense Division.

Bai Yanding didn't understand, and spread his hands and said: "I, the commander-in-chief, is to give a hand to the three bosses, you speak, I will do it......"

Fan Sihai said with a smile: "Don't think we are talking about it too profoundly, in fact, it is very simple, our current attempt to Japan is to conclude a treaty with trade, and at the same time cut off their suzerainty relationship with the Ryukyus, what is the future depends on the emperor's policy on Japan." Regardless of distance or proximity, in these three things, the Satsuma clan is a key player, and they must be pulled onto our ship, and there are such opportunities and possibilities. ”

Bai Yanding faintly comprehended, and sighed: "It's still Boss Fan who knows about Japan, and if you really want me to lead the army, I'm afraid I have to be like the chief again...... Oh, it's not like Feng Langzhong you. ”

Speaking of the delay in the Ryukyus in the past few years, one of the culprits was by his side, and Bai Yanding hurriedly shut up.

"I know the fur, but I know who knows better, and lo and behold, it's time for him to come."

Fan Sihai said as he looked out of the boat, where a small boat was approaching.

#c