Chapter 2732

However, while the Satsuma Domain controlled the Ryukyu Kingdom, it did not force Ryukyu to sever its relationship with the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in theory, Ryukyu has always been a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but it has paid tribute less frequently to the Ming Dynasty in the past thirty or forty years.

The Ryukyu Kingdom's national border is just a string of small islands between Taiwan Island and Japan's Kyushu Island. It has neither minerals nor land. It is still more than a thousand miles away from the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It cannot be said to have much strategic value. Perhaps it is located on Japan's Kyushu Island.

The Satsuma Domain in the south is considered a piece of fat, but neither the Ming Dynasty nor Haihan paid much attention to the existence of this small country. It was not until the Ming Dynasty asked for surrender last year, and the Ryukyu Kingdom saw that the Ming Dynasty was over, that it sent an envoy to Sanya to ask for permission.

Can be canonized and protected by Haihan.

Logically speaking, it is a little late to change the gate at this time, but Ryukyu officials have always been deferential to Haihan, and they have maintained trade relations with Taipei Jilong Port and Zhejiang coastal areas over the years, so the executive committee was very happy to accept Ryukyu's surrender.

.

But at this time, a new problem emerged, that is, the royal family of Ryukyu was just a puppet, and the real power was actually in the hands of the Satsuma clan of Japan. One of the reasons why Ryukyu came to the door was that he hoped that Haihan could help

Restore your own country and drive out the Satsuma clan's forces.

In the view of the Executive Committee, Ryukyu does not have the value to allow Haihan to use military means. However, the attitude of the ruling travelers towards Japan has always been very clear and will never allow it the opportunity to expand its sphere of influence. If Ryukyu is assisted

Restoring the country, in addition to having a certain positive effect on Haihan's international reputation, can also further weaken Japan's strength. This is a goal that the Executive Committee is happy to achieve.

Of course, since we have to stand in front of the stage to uphold justice, it is the correct procedure to be polite first and then fight. What's more, the Executive Committee does not want to use force for this matter. One of the missions of the mission this time is to report to Tokugawa

The shogunate expressed Haihan's attitude towards the ownership of Ryukyu and tried its best to solve the problem at the negotiation table.

The mission had discussed this before and believed that the shogunate would not be so easy to compromise. After all, to the shogunate, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are. What's more, the meat has been in the mouth for decades, how can it be spit out easily again? If in the end

If we can't reach an agreement, we still have to go to the step of threatening force.

But after Tokugawa Ietsuna had a low-pitched conversation with his officials, the answer he gave was beyond the mission's expectations.

Tokugawa Ietsuna said that it was inconvenient for the shogunate to intervene in this matter, and Kaihan could negotiate with the Satsuma Domain on his own. If the Satsuma Domain was willing to let go and let the Ryukyu Kingdom regain its autonomy, the shogunate would not interfere again.

This was like kicking the ball back to Kaihan's side, which caught everyone off guard. It seemed that the research work they had done beforehand on the relationship between the shogunate and the Satsuma clan was not sufficient.

The two families are nominally affiliated, but judging from the attitude of the Tokugawa Ietsuna, it may not be very harmonious. So much so that the shogunate did not even intend to do anything superficial to maintain the Satsuma Domain, but rather just watched from the other side.

For the current plan, we can only put this issue aside and make plans after going back to reorganize the information. The shogunate also needs some time to discuss other trade-related issues, and the two sides agreed to hold talks again in three days.

After the first meeting, Tokugawa Ietsuna followed diplomatic etiquette and hosted a banquet to entertain the delegation. However, before the banquet began, the young general complained that he was feeling unwell, leaving Sakai Tadaki and others to greet the delegation.

Withdrawn.

The real host was not present, but he had less worries about speaking. At the banquet, the mission was able to get some valuable information. After returning to the embassy, ​​Ma Boran looked through relevant information overnight and added some information that had been ignored before.

, and finally roughly clarified the ins and outs of it.

Just like the attitude shown in the negotiations, the relationship between the shogunate and the Satsuma Domain really had some problems. In this era, the daimyo vassals who were close to the shogunate were often in areas near Edo, and far away from Edo.

The farther away you go, the more distant your relationship with the shogunate becomes.

The Satsuma Domain and the Hirado Domain are located to the south and north, located on the westernmost coast of the Japanese archipelago, separated by Sasebo and Nagasaki. The Hirado Domain relied on its own money and soldiers, disobeyed the rule of the shogunate, and became independent from the shogunate.

It was outside the system of the shogunate, so much so that when it was later attacked by Kaihan, the shogunate did not intervene to rescue it. The situation of the Satsuma Domain was actually similar to that of the Hirado Domain, and its relationship with the shogunate can naturally be imagined.

The Satsuma Domain has a poor relationship with the shogunate, and has a close relationship with the current lord, Shimazu Mitsuhisa. This man was sent to Edo as a hostage when he was young, and was imprisoned here for many years, so he naturally harbors resentment towards the shogunate.

Later, after he returned to his hometown and succeeded to the throne, he organized gold mining in the Satsuma Domain, but due to the interference of the shogunate, this road to making money had to be terminated. Before and after he succeeded to the throne, the shogunate issued multiple lock-down orders one after another, prohibiting the

Each domain engaged in foreign trade activities on its own, forcing foreign merchants to concentrate on the port of Nagasaki under the control of the shogunate, leaving the Satsuma Domain with no opportunity to utilize its geographical advantage.

As the saying goes, cutting off a person's path to wealth is like killing one's parents. Mitsuhisa Shimazu was targeted by the shogunate again and again, and his resentment naturally grew. However, there were policies and countermeasures, and he also had other ways to make money that could bypass the shogunate, that is

Ryukyu Kingdom.

Although the Ryukyu Kingdom itself has few resources, the Satsuma Domain can use the name of the Ryukyu Kingdom to carry out trade activities with the Ming Dynasty and other countries. The shogunate's national lock-down order can control the Satsuma Domain, but cannot control other countries. Even if it is known that the Satsuma Domain is using Ryukyu to do small things

, and there is no good way to do this. Because of this, the Satsuma Domain has controlled Ryukyu for decades, but has never annexed the area. It just wants to keep the title of Ryukyu Kingdom as a shield.

The Satsuma Domain has used Ryukyu as a shell to engage in smuggling business for decades. This channel is an extremely important source of revenue for the Satsuma Domain. Whether Ryukyu is restored or not has no direct impact on the shogunate, but if

Kaihan allowed Ryukyu to get rid of the control of Satsuma Domain, which was equivalent to weakening the strength of Satsuma Domain. This was a result that the shogunate was happy to see. Because of this, the shogunate's request for the Kaihan mission was not

He didn't refuse, but he didn't want to wade into this muddy water, so he let the mission go to Satsuma Domain to negotiate on their own.

As for the conditions previously proposed by the mission, if the Satsuma clan cooperates, it can retain its trade rights and industries in Ryukyu, which is superfluous. From the perspective of the shogunate, I am afraid that it would like to use Kaihan's hand to destroy Satsuma

The clan was just like the disobedient thorn in the side of the Hirado clan.
Chapter completed!