Fukulin was very concerned about how the Japanese made the originally rich Ryukyu poor and weak. However, Hongyi, who majored in international political relations, must be clear about the hidden essence of this - Japan's challenge to the "geopolitical pattern of East Asia" under the central dynastic ruling system!

From the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century, the Ming Dynasty was in the predicament of internal and external troubles, and its national strength was declining day by day. Japan, on the other hand, gradually rose with the completion of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification cause. The geopolitical landscape of East Asia has undergone a change in the "one trade-off" situation, and the traditional East Asian international order constructed by the Ming Dynasty has been challenged by Japan. [As a Chinese, whenever he touches this unavoidable node of contemporary international relations, Hongyi will beat his chest and be annoyed! ] 】

Japan actively pursued a policy of continental expansion, while seeking to place the Korean Peninsula and the Ryukyu Islands within Japan's Shili range. In particular, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched two wars of aggression against Korea in 1592 and 1597 and Tokugawa Ieyasu seized power, Japan quickly shifted its strategic focus to the Ryukyu Islands. Under the challenge of Japan, the international order in the traditional East Asian region began to waver...... [Considering that some readers are very tired of reading Hongyi's self-created "semi-vernacular text", here is simply a description of the professional perspective of international political history, after all, it is a modern vernacular text, easy to understand!] 】

The Ryukyus, which was a trading country, maintained official trade with Satsuma[1] in Japan for a long time. But in Japan, the port of Bozu in Satsua [2] almost monopolized trade with the Ryukyus. In 1471, King Naoen of the Ryukyus wrote an official letter to Shimazu Tatsuhisa, the guardian of Satsuma, calling himself "the lord of the Kanamaru world". And from its contents, it can be seen that the relationship between Ryukyu and Satsuma is reciprocal. However, Satsuma unilaterally regarded the reciprocal trade between the Ryukyus and Satsuma as a "tribute". [The shameless face of today's Japanese politicians can be imagined! ] 】

In order to strengthen the management of merchant ships traveling between the "Saruu", the Satsuma Domain began issuing "seals" (licenses) to the Ryukyu ferry merchant ships in 1508. After 1566, the Satsuma Domain strengthened its control over the Ryukyu Ferry merchant ships, and strictly banned merchant ships that did not have a "seal" by confiscating goods and seizing ships. However, the Ryukyu Kingdom did not pay attention to it, and allowed some merchant ships that did not have a "seal" to engage in trading activities in the port of Naha, which caused dissatisfaction among the Satsuma clan. In 1574, the Satsuma clan sent a document to the Ryukyus on cases of "breach of contract" that had existed in the Ryukyus over the years. And warn that if you don't "change your ways". It will inevitably lead to a deterioration in relations between the two sides. In March 1575, when the Ryukyu Kingdom sent the Akibune (the Ryukyu King's diplomat ship) to the Satsuma Domain to congratulate Shimazu Yoshihisa on his succession, the Satsuma Domain's important officials came to their faces, demanding explanations from the Ryukyu envoys for the "breach of contract" in the Ryukyus in recent years, the late arrival of the Tattoo Ships, and the meager congratulatory gifts. The Satsuma Domain's attempt to attack the Satsuma Domain was actually an attempt to force the Ryukyu Kingdom to accept the Satsuma Domain's "seal judgment" system. Control the maritime trade of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

February 1590. The Satsuma clan sent an envoy to Ryu. The Ryukyu Kingdom was asked to pay tribute to Japan. The king of the Ryukyus, Shoning, did not want to offend Japan, so he sent an envoy to the Satsuma domain and offered a gift to repair. October 1591. The Satsuma clan sent a letter to Shoning, saying that Toyotomi Hideyoshi Jihua had attacked Korea and demanded that the Ryukyus pay part of the food. King Shang Ninh accepted the advice of Tang Rongji[3] [Zheng Zhen], the prime minister who was tough on Japan and Haode to Huayou, rejected Satsuma's request, and informed the Ming government. Toyotomi Hideyoshi then became angry and threatened to attack the Ryukyu Kingdom. Shoning was forced to promise to hand over half of his salary, and the remainder of the Satsuma clan offered to pay it in advance, but asked to pay it back at a later date. The Ryukyu Kingdom agreed to the request of the Satsuma Domain. In this way, the Ryukyu Kingdom owed the Satsuma Domain several debts [the aforementioned 2.5 million taels of silver], and the debt collection became a pretext for the Satsuma Domain to invade the Ryukyus.

At the end of 1602, a tribute ship of the Ryukyu Kingdom was caught in a storm and drifted to the Mutsu region of Japan. In early 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu instructed the Satsuma clan to send the Ryukyu crew back to the Ryukyu Kingdom, hoping that the Ryukyu Kingdom would "come and hire" (send an envoy to pay tribute as a token of thanks). In February 1604, Shimazu Iehisa, the lord of the Satsuma domain, asked the Ryukyu Kingdom to send an envoy to the Edo shogunate. The Ryukyu King Shōnin still ignored him. In July 1605, Tokugawa Ieyasu asked Matsuura Jinnobu, the lord of the Hirado domain, to contact the Ryukyu Kingdom and ask the Ryukyu Kingdom to "come and hire," but he refused. In May 1607, Tokugawa Ieyasu again ordered the Satsuma clan to urge the Ryukyu Kingdom to "come and hire." In response to repeated requests from the Edo shogunate and the Satsuma clan to "come and hire," the China friendship faction [which was inevitably a hardliner against Japan at the time] who had already been promoted to the post of "three ministers[4]] sternly refused. The conflict over the issue of "hiring" became another excuse for the Satsuma clan to invade the Ryukyus.

On March 4, 1609, the Satsuma clan sent 100 warships and 3,000 soldiers from Yamakawa Port to attack the Ryukyu Kingdom. On March 27, the Japanese invaders captured present-Nakihito Castle and approached Shurijo Castle, the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The Ryukyu Kingdom mobilized 4,000 troops to defend it, but the Ryukyu defenders, armed with swords, spears, and bows and arrows, were significantly inferior in combat effectiveness compared to the strong troops of the Satsuma Domain, which were armed with muskets. On April 4, the Ryukyu king Shōnin Kaejo surrendered, and on April 5, the Satsuma army took over Shuri Castle. During the war, the Satsuma clan army plundered and killed the people of the Ryukyus. Although some Japanese scholars believe that the Satsuma military discipline is strict and prohibits war crimes against civilians, the so-called military discipline on the battlefield is not strictly observed. The low quality of the soldiers and the deliberate connivance of the officers became the main reasons for the occurrence of the above-mentioned acts. [What is the military discipline of Little Japan, we can imagine it by comparing the historical truth that happened in Nanjing, damn a little Japan! ] 】

Tokugawa Ieyasu spoke highly of the military victory of the Satsuma Domain's invasion of the Ryukyus. On July 7, 1609, Tokugawa Ieyasu granted Shimazu Iehisa the right to rule the Ryukyu Islands. On May 16, 1610, King Shonei of the Ryukyus and his entourage were taken to Edo by Shimazu Iehisa. On August 14, Tokugawa Ieyasu received an audience from the Ryukyu King Naonin at Sunpu Castle. On August 28, Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the shogunate, received an audience from the Ryukyu King Shoning at Edo Castle. On September 3, Tokugawa Hidetada hosted a banquet for the Ryukyu kings Naonin and Shimazu Iehisa, during which Tokugawa Hidetada told Naonin that the Edo shogunate had no intention of replacing him with his surname, and that the state system of the Ryukyu Kingdom could be continued.

Before that. The Edo shogunate also received interviews from foreign envoys such as Korea and the Netherlands. However, the political significance of the Ryukyu King Shoning's view as the ruler of a country is markedly different.

On December 24, 1610, Naonin returned to Kagoshima with Shimazu Iehisa. On September 19, 1611, the Satsuma clan proposed to Shonei the 15 basic laws that the Ryukyu Kingdom must abide by, requiring the Ryukyu Kingdom's rulers and ministers to swear allegiance and cede the Amami Islands. Under the threat of force from the Satsuma Domain, Shoning and his retainers were forced to sign an "affidavit" (affidavit). Only Zheng Zhen reprimanded the Satsuma Clan's banditry behavior, refused to sign, and was executed on the spot by the Satsuma Clan. [Woohoo lament! On December 15, 1611, King Shonei of the Ryukyus and his ministers were released and returned to Japan.

The Ryukyus king Shoning was held captive by the Satsuma Domain. The three officials who were temporarily in charge of the affairs of the Ryukyu Kingdom, "Nago Kinakata" Yoshitomi. In October 1609, Zheng Jun was sent as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to report on the "Wa Rebellion". In January 1610, he sent tribute envoy Mao Fengyi to Emperor Mingshenzong through Chen Zizhen, the governor of Fujian, and others. Emperor Shenzong ordered Mao Fengyi and others to convey their appeasement to the Ryukyu King Shang Ning, and at the same time asked Fujian officials to report the details of the "Japanese rebellion". After that, Chen Zizhen collected a large amount of information to play the imperial court. So far. The news of the "Wa Rebellion" in the Ryukyu Kingdom spread quickly among Ming officials. For the Satsuma clan invaded the Ryukyus. Many officials of the Ming Dynasty initially believed that the "Wa Rebellion" would lead to the annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom by the Satsuma Domain. However, it was later discovered that the Ryukyus had not perished. It was only subordinated to the Satsuma Domain and became a "common" vassal state of China and Japan. The Ming Dynasty acquiesced in this reality and remained silent about the Satsuma Domain's invasion of the Ryukyus. No representations were made to the Government of Japan.

With the sad and indignant description of Little Belle Ye, everyone in the palace became more and more silent, so that the atmosphere became more and more depressing.

Just after Hongyi finished describing the "invasion of Ryukyu by Japanese thieves" with grief and indignation, there was a "snap", and Fulin suddenly got up and smashed the teacup in his hand to the ground!

[Please forgive Hongyi, this chapter once again narrates a large part of the historical material.] As with the last chapter "Blood Feud Deep" that describes the Rakshasa invasion of the Heilongjiang River Valley, we must never forget the Ryukyus. Compared with the encroachment of Tsarist Russia, in fact, few people know the detailed history of the fall of the Ryukyus to the hands of the Japanese invaders. In this chapter, Hongyi "wrote 4,000 words with tears, and categorically five or eight copies were free" - I just ask all the book friends who have really read this chapter and understand this chapter to remember this disgraceful history of China, because the Ming Emperor let Ryukyu drift away like this! This humiliating scene is no less than Lao Chiang's two refusals of the return of the Ryukyus after World War II! Of course, Lao Jiang later regretted it, and as a Chinese who understood the difference between "national hatred" and "family hatred", he regretted it. So, all of us Chinese today should justifiably regret for our ancestors five hundred years ago - the "common subject state"? Back then, we were really wrong! Sorry, the Chinese in Ryukyu! 】

[1] Satsuma Province, one of Japan's ancient reiki states, belonged to the Saikaido and was also known as Sashu. The territory of Satsuma Province was roughly equivalent to the western part of present-day Kagoshima Prefecture. The chief is Mamoru Satsuma.

[2] Bozu was the name of a bustling port on the island of Kyushu in ancient Japan. It was located in Hozu, Kawabe-gun, Satsuma Province (present-day Bozu Town, Minamisatsuma City, Kagoshima Prefecture). Bozu was an artery of maritime communication in ancient Japan. In 538, the Japanese monk Ila who came to Baekje founded Yongamsa Temple (later Ichihayanain) in the area. Since then, the area has become a place with a high concentration of Buddhist places such as fangsha and fangzhuo, so it is called bojin.

[3] Prime Minister Tang Eiji was an official of the Ryukyu State and was mainly in charge of the affairs of the central dynasty. Literally, it is the prime minister's chief official of the yamen on the "Tang", that is, China's various "glory" affairs.

[4] The Sanjikan, also known as the Hoji, was the supreme ruling body of the Ryukyu Imperial Court and the official title of all officials in this body. The Ryukyu Kingdom has a total of three officials and three officials, and the title is "so-and-so pro-party". The three trifectans supervised the three offices of the "Take-I-shi" (the management of state property and the management of mountains and rivers), the "Tsuri-goku" (the management of the salaries and travel expenses given to the servants), and the "Take-to-behold" (the management of taxes and the cashier of the national treasury). The rank of the three officials ranged from the first rank to the second rank, which was the highest rank among the Ryukyu scholars, equivalent to the three princes or three divisions in China and Japan. Although there was a regent above the three ministers, the regents were generally not involved in political activities, so the three ministers were the highest-ranking officials in the Ryukyu Kingdom. (To be continued......)