Naha was a natural haven with excellent hydrological conditions and was the most important supply port on the maritime trade route between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, so it was also quite prosperous.

Basically, it is on par with the wealthier fishing villages in Suzhou and Hangzhou.

There were many merchant ships parked in the harbor, and a large number of barefoot laborers on the docks were busy moving goods between the ships and the warehouses.

Further inward, there are shops and the rammed earth street is full of hawkers. The rarest and most expensive goods in the Ryukyus are gathered here, and most of the people who come here to shop are the most prominent people in the Ryukyus.

From the east, a group of people walked leisurely down the street kicking clogs and taking figure-eight steps. This group of people are wearing loose kimonos, and they have shaved the hair in the middle of their heads and combed the hair on their cheeks neatly, which is extremely strange.

The person at the head was Yokome of Japan's Ryukyu Zaiban Mission, that is, the person in charge, named Kawakami Ubei.

As the native emperor of Naha, his greatest pleasure every day was to wander around the bustling port, show his authority in front of the "natives" of the Ryukyus, "fish" some valuable goods by the way, or tease the little girl passing by.

But today's good mood ended here, and the two Ryukyu officials who maintained order in the port came at a trot, bowed vigorously, and whispered a few words in his ear.

"The giant merchants of the Ming Kingdom want to see me?" Kawakami's right guard shook his hand and gave the little official a mouthful, "Yaga!" I'm a 'non-existent person' in the Ryukyus, so how can I meet Akito?! ”

Speaking of which, Japan was also frightened in the battle of Wanli to aid Korea, so although it forcibly occupied Ryukyu at this time, it did not dare to publicly let the Ming know about it, considering that it was a subject country of the Ming Dynasty. In the past, when Ming officials passed by Ryukyu, they were also secretive, and only local officials in Ryukyu came forward to deal with it.

Due to the lack of information in the 17th century, the Japanese had occupied Ryukyu for 14 years by the second year of Longwu, but the Ming side never knew about it. However, with the chaotic situation in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there is nothing that can be done if you know that you are afraid.

Historically, Japan has been entrenched in the Ryukyus, and after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing court did not care about the Ryukyus at all. So after more than 200 years of infiltration and assimilation, the Ryukyuan people themselves had no idea of resisting.

But as a latecomer, Zhu Linmiao knows the situation in the Ryukyus well. It was a transit point for Sino-Japanese trade, and it was an important military base for naval warfare, and it was not to sit idly by and watch the Japanese annex it.

It's just that at the moment, the main energy of the Ming Dynasty is to drive out the Tartars, but it doesn't take much effort to drive a wedge here in advance and stir up the relationship between the central and local governments of Japan by the way.

The little official of the Ryukyus covered his face and said aggrievedly: "My lord, I replied that I didn't know that there was such a person as you, but the Ming Shang pointed out that he wanted to meet Yokome in the Ban Dynasty, and said that he wanted to negotiate a big deal with the Shimazu family, who was in charge of the Ryukyus. He also said that if I didn't get the word on, he would take people directly to the ashram. ”

Kawakami was shocked when he heard this, and asked why did this Akito know so much about the affairs of the Ryukyus? Not only did I know that there was a follow-up service, but I also knew that Ryukyu had been controlled by the Shimazu family! If so, I have to see him.

The Naha Office is a two-story stone building with a Japanese style.

Shi Lang was dressed as a businessman, looked up at the Japanese text on the wooden plaque at the door, waved to the more than ten sailor infantry soldiers wearing subordinate clothes behind him, and walked in with the little official who led the way.

Kawakami looked him up and down, but when he opened his mouth, he was fluent in the official dialect of the Ming Dynasty, "Your Excellency wants to see me?" ”

Since ancient times, Ryukyu has been the suzerainty of the Ming Dynasty, and even the imperial examination has to take the Chinese test, so this Kawakami has been in Ryukyu for a long time, and he is proficient in Chinese.

"Oh, there's a deal to talk to you about. It's best to call the overlord as well. Shi Lang glanced at him again, "Who are you from the Shimazu family?" ”

This "Naha official" is the magistrate of Naha, and he is also the highest-ranking official appointed by the Ryukyuan people, and the officials above are designated by the Japanese Zaiban Commission.

Kawakami hesitated for a moment, and motioned to his subordinates on the side, "Call Weng Dingdong to come over." Then he bowed slightly to Shi Lang, "Down there is the eldest son of the head of the Kawakami family of the Satsuma Domain."

"I wonder how you learned about the Shoban and Satsuma Domain?"

Shi Lang didn't answer him, but said: "I am the shopkeeper of Zhangji in Zhejiang, and I have a proposal - in the future, except for me, all merchant ships going to Japan to sell silk are not allowed to dock at Naha." In return, I gave the Shimazu family 10,000 taels of silver every year. ”

"How is this possible?" Kawakami's face immediately sank, "The Sino-Japanese silk business is as much as millions of taels every year, how can you let yourself dominate alone?!" ”

With the navigation technology of this era, if you go to Japan from the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty, if you don't make supplies on the way, it means that you have to bring a lot of food and fresh water, but the goods you carry are greatly reduced, and the cost is even increased by more than forty percent.

After the Shimazu family occupied the Ryukyus, they collected hundreds of thousands of taels of tolls each year in Naha alone, and the silk business was the largest of them.

"I'm not talking to you." Shi Lang said proudly, "You go and tell Shimazu Mitsuhisa that if my request is not met, the Ming court will know about your invasion of the Ryukyu Zhongshan Kingdom." At that time, the imperial court did not directly send troops to aid Liu, but it was inevitable that it would stop trading with the Japanese in anger. ”

It happened that the overlord Weng Dingdong entered the house, and when he heard this, he was stunned, and only after a while bowed to Kawakami and said, "I've seen my lord." ”

Kawakami's face darkened even more, and he pointed at Shi Lang and said, "You dare to threaten me?!" ”

"Yes, I'm just threatening you, what's wrong?"

Kawakami choked for a long time before he recovered, and nodded helplessly: "Okay, I'll convey it to the feudal lord." Wait a few days, and I'll let you know as soon as Kagoshima gets a reply. ”

Shi Lang seemed to have a bamboo in his chest, and when he heard this, he got up and left, "Don't let me wait too long." ”

When a general in the river saw Weng Dingdong sending the "shopkeeper of Zhang Ji" out of the office, he immediately turned around and said, "Lord, why don't you kill this profiteer immediately?" ”

"What's the hurry?" Kawakami's eyes were cold, "This person may just be a stand-in, they have a big ship parked in the harbor, and these people and the ship must be eliminated together!" ”

He went to the harbor to inspect the "merchant ship" in the book, but was astonished to see that the ship was more than twice as large as the largest ship in his hand, with a towering mast and nearly ten "big" guns on both sides of the deck.

In fact, all he saw were small-caliber guns and Franc cannons on the wide-signal open-air deck, and if he saw the heavy guns on the gun deck, he would probably be too frightened to move.

"Our ship is no match for it." Kawakami then looked at the Yaraza Morijo Fort, which was guarding the port, and said to his general, "Find a way to lead it to the vicinity of the fort." ”

"Hey!"