Chapter 488: Ambition is not high

The sunset is setting, and the golden sunlight spreads over the entire sea. As the waves ripples, it seems like golden snakes leaping on the sea.

Naba Port, the soldiers on duty were watching from a distance and saw a huge fleet of ships rushing towards him. They immediately raised their telescopes to take a closer look. When they saw more than a dozen Western sailing warships, they couldn't help but feel nervous and quickly sounded the alarm.

The entire Naba Port became nervous immediately, and immediately mobilized. The officer on duty hurriedly ran out, raised his telescope and observed it carefully for a while. When he found that all the Western sail warships were hung with red-bottomed golden dragon flags, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and immediately issued an order to release the alarm.

Now, no one knows the red-bottomed golden dragon flag in the entire East China Sea, Huanghai and South China Sea, so there is no need to eat the rice at sea. The officer on duty just gave the order to remove the alarm, and immediately reacted and ordered loudly: "Quick Ma Tong passed on Feng Lu Doctor, inform the king that the fleet of the Qing Dynasty's sect leader has arrived."

It is not a trivial matter for the Sect Master's fleet to come to Naha. It only succeeded to the throne last year. After hearing the news, Shang Jing, the king of Ryukyu, immediately led the founding of the Lu Doctor Cheng Kezheng, and the Zhenggong Doctor Cai Wen and other officials respectfully rushed to the dock to greet him.

The official Cai Wen, the official, ordered as soon as he arrived at the dock: "Everything related to the Japanese is removed immediately, and cover it up if it cannot be removed."

Feng Lu Dafu Cheng Kezheng also added: "All the Japanese will be persuaded to leave, and the envoys of the Sect Master will not be allowed to show up before leaving."

On the battleship slowly entering the port, Yinxiang and Lin Wei couldn't help but smile when they saw Rulin's ceremonial guard. Lin Wei said uncertainly: "But the Prince of Ryukyu came out in person?"

Yinxiang nodded and said, "The ceremonial wars of Ryukyu are basically imitated from the previous Ming Dynasty. There are big worms here, so the prince of Ryukyu came out to welcome him."

When the warship was docked, Yinxiang brought a group of generals to the ashore. They did not come to enthrone the enthronement, so naturally there was no imperial edict. Lin Wei had to shout loudly from the side: "Yi Beizi, the thirteenth prince of the Qing Dynasty, is here."

When he heard that it was the Thirteenth Prince. King Shang Jing of Ryukyu hurriedly stepped forward to see him. He succeeded to the throne and had not been granted a title. Naturally, he was also considered the prince of the prince, so he did not need to worship him. He could meet him at peace. The ministers under him were given a great ceremony.

After the ceremony, the crowd hugged Yinxiang and his party to Shuri Castle, which is the palace of Ryukyu.

The banquet was naturally unavoidable. During the meal, Yinxiang realized that the current king of Ryukyu was Shang Jing. He ascended the throne last year. Before he could go to Beijing to request a title, he waited for the meal to taste tea. Cheng Kezheng, the Fenglufu, asked tentatively: "Is Your Highness the Thirteenth Prince passing by, or is he coming to Ryukyu?"

Yinxiang looked at Shang Jing, who was full of respect, and then pondered: "When I passed by, I heard that Ryukyu was bullied by the Japanese Satsuma family, I came to ask me specifically, why didn't you report to the court?"

When Shang Jing heard this, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. Cheng Kezheng hesitated slightly and said, "Your Highness the Thirteenth Prince doesn't know that after the Tokugawa Shogunate unified Japan, Ryukyu had a feud with Tokugawa Ieyasu because he refused to send a thank-you mission to the Tokugawa Shogunate.

In the 37th year of Wanli, the vassal lord of the Satsuma clan, Shimazu Ieku, sent Kazuka Kataya as the general, leading 3,000 troops, more than 100 ships, and 600 iron cannons to invade Ryukyu. We were defeated because of our defeat. King Shangning was forced to surrender. He was captured by the prince, officials and more than 100 people were captured by the Satsuma army to Kagoshima for three years and five months. Later, he was forced to sign the "Fifteenth Slaying" with Satsuma. The Satsuma clan did whatever he wanted in Ryukyu since then. Because this happened in the previous dynasty, we had no face to mention it to the court, and we also hoped that His Highness the Thirteenth Prince would forgive him."

The King of Ryukyu Shang Jing continued: "Samatsu family has collected huge taxes from Ryukyu every year, and the Tokugawa family also regards our Ryukyu as a vassal state and forces Ryukyu to pay tribute every year, which is really miserable."

Yinxiang couldn't help but his eyes lit up when he heard this sentence. Ryukyu paid tribute to the Tokugawa Shogunate every year. Wouldn't he be familiar with the situation of Edo? He immediately showed a sense of desire to speak but stopped, and then looked at several ministers in Ryukyu.

Cheng Kezheng, the Fenglu official, was a first-rank minister in Ryukyu. When he saw this situation, he pondered for a moment and shut down several ministers, leaving only the official Cai Wen, and then said: "What instructions does His Highness the Thirteenth Prince have?"

Yinxiang glanced at Lin Wei, glanced at Shang Jing's three monarchs and ministers, and asked in a deep voice: "Is anyone familiar with the situation in Edo?"

After hearing this, Shang Jing, Cheng Kezheng and Cai Wen were all over, and then there was a burst of ecstasy. The Qing Navy was about to attack Japan? They have been waiting for this day. They have long heard of the strength of the Qing Navy. They have witnessed the warships anchored at Naba Port today. They are indeed well-known and all of them have brand new Western gunboats!

Cai Wen, Shang Jing and Cheng Kezheng looked at each other and immediately said, "Return to His Highness the Thirteenth Prince, the subordinates went to Edo every year, knowing Japan and Edo very well."

Yinxiang and Lin Wei were also very happy to hear that. It was really easy to get it. Now there was no need to worry about no one leading the way. Yinxiang hurriedly said, "Tell me about all the situations in Edo in detail."

Cai Wen naturally knew what they wanted to understand. After pondering for a moment, he explained the population, economy, city defense, troops, transportation, and the situation of the navy in Edo Bay in detail.

Yinxiang and Lin Wei heard that Edo had a population of millions, but there were no city walls and only 22,000 troops. They all forced themselves to suppress their inner ecstasy. There were no deep trenches and high walls, and five or six thousand navy troops equipped with a large number of mountain howitzers could rush around, even 20,000 cavalry could not stop it!

After calming down, Yinxiang asked in a deep voice: "More than 20,000 permanent troops in the shogunate, how many muskets and artillery are there?"

"This is not clear about the official committee." Cai Wen hesitated for a moment and then continued: "The firearms in various Japanese vassals are arranged at about 20%, and the shogunate conditions are slightly better, so it should be about 30%. Most of them are muskets, but there are very few cannons."

30% of that, that is only six or seven thousand musketeers, without artillery suppression, no matter how many cannons are, they are cannon fodder!

Yinxiang pondered for a moment and asked, "How many troops are there in Ryukyu?"

Shang Jing naturally knew what this question meant, but said without hesitation: "The total strength of Ryukyu is only 3,000, and all of them are allowed to be dispatched by His Highness the Thirteenth Prince."

"Ambition is not about being old, I am so brave!" Yinxiang praised and said in a deep voice: "Since that is the case, there is no need to hide it. The Qing Dynasty will attack Edo, Japan soon. You are ready to go and get a share of the pie. Are there any Japanese on your island? Don't leak the news."

Shang Jing looked at Cheng Kezheng, Cai Wen and the other two, and said excitedly: "Since the Supreme Kingdom of the Heavenly Kingdom supports Ryukyu, what else can you be afraid of? I want to make a fist and family vengeance in this battle, without further ado, dispatched troops overnight to kill all the Japanese!"

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Chapter completed!