The largest Ryukyu island in the Ryukyu Islands. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The capital of the INFO Kingdom --- the center of Shuri Castle.

A palace with a magnificent form, bright colors, and a clear Tang Dynasty style.

The prime minister of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Shang Hongxun, and the military department Shangshu Ma Liangcai, knelt in front of a young man about ten years old to report on the major events related to the life and death of the Ryukyus. And this young man, who is only about ten years old, is none other than the Ryukyu King Shotai, who has been on the throne for five years but is still young.

"Prime Minister Shang, Ma Shangshu, how is this good? This king is young and has no idea, so the two Aiqing have to think more about this king. Shang Tai's face turned pale and said in disbelief.

However, if there are people from southern Fujian here, they will definitely find that this young king of the Ryukyus actually speaks six or seven similar Hokkien dialects.

And Shang Hongxun, the prime minister who is over fifty years old, as soon as he opened his mouth, the Hokkien dialect became even stronger: "Your Majesty, according to the report of the fisherman who fished on the southern island of Xiandao, there are a lot of warships coming, and the sails are coming from the sky, I am afraid that there are no less than 100 of them. The leader is a huge Western warship, but the strange thing is that the bow of the ship is hung with a red background and a yellow five-star coiling dragon flag. Lao Chen had been to Shangguo when he was young, but he had never seen such a flag. ”

Ma Liangcai, the secretary of the military department who knelt down next to him, also spoke: "Yes, Your Majesty, this water division is menacing, but it is undoubtedly coming from the direction of Shangguo. But the strange thing is, why not hang the Yellow Dragon Flag, but have stars? And, when did Shangguo also purchase Western warships? ”

Although both of them are old ministers, especially Prime Minister Shang Hongxun, according to generation, he is still the uncle of King Shang Tai, but the whole Ryukyus, who doesn't know, the young king has been smart since he was a child, although he is only ten years old, but he already has his own thoughts and opinions. Therefore, the two did not dare to speak falsely, but just reported what they knew.

Prime Minister Shang Hongxun saw that Shang Tai was silent, knowing that he was only ten years old after all, and it was really difficult for him.

Just half a year ago, a Western fleet of three warships arrived on Ryukyu Island, led by a general who claimed to be Commodore Perry, who claimed to be Commodore Perry, to the Ryukyu Kingdom and demanded the opening of the port of Naha on the west side of Shuri Castle on Ryukyu Island.

Prime Minister Shang Hongxun didn't know what to do, and just wanted to refuse, but Perry, who looked fierce, ordered the warship to open fire, and even sank the two fishing boats parked in Naha Harbor. In desperation, Shang Hongxun had no choice but to tell King Shang Tai.

Unexpectedly, the clever Shang Tai came up with a way to make Shang Hongxun privately agree to open the port of Naha, do business with the foreign fleet, and supply them, but did not sign a formal agreement, on the grounds that the Ryukyu Kingdom was only a vassal state, and diplomatic relations with foreign countries had to be signed with the suzerain, so the American fleet was dispatched.

This time, the fleet, which I don't know from nowhere, is heading towards the Ryukyus again, and it will be interesting to see what the wise king will do?

"With a naval division of this scale, no matter what, my Ryukyu Kingdom cannot resist even the strength of the whole country. Let's see why they are here. However, first evacuate all of our troops from the Ryukyus three miles away from the sea, and all the sailors will also go ashore. This time, even the wise king didn't know what to do. Also, I don't even know who is coming, so how can I deal with it? He could only fantasize about holding the shore.

Half a day later, the originally empty port of Naha became crowded. More than 400 warships of all kinds stopped at the port of Naha, and one of the warships led by it was a tall Western-style ship, with black muzzles on its sides, which had stretched out and aimed at the more than 100 people from the Ryukyu Kingdom who came to greet them on the dock, which made people frightened.

Shang Hongxun, the prime minister in the crowd, was also terrified, for fear that the other party would give an order and fire a hundred shots. Fortunately, the other party only aimed the muzzle of the cannon to deter the Ryukyu people, and did not really fire the cannon.

Immediately afterwards, a messenger, escorted by two guards, disembarked and informed Shang Hongxun that he would accompany the Ryukyu Kingdom to the ship to receive the order.

"Order? Has the suzerain, the Great Qing Kingdom, come to the Holy Decree? Prime Minister Shang Hongxun then understood. But in a blink of an eye, it was confusing again: the Great Qing Kingdom had never taken Ryukyu to heart, and the last time the new king ascended the throne, although he sent an envoy to canonize him, the one who claimed to be the envoy was just a small six-rank official, and a dozen or so retinues came on a wooden sailing boat. Why is there such a big show today, and there are hundreds of warships?

Could it be that you want to go on an expedition? Prime Minister Shang Hongxun couldn't help but be suspicious.

However, he did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly ordered someone to inform King Shantai. But he was very anxious in his heart, and he couldn't let the king get on the ship, and if there was a mistake, he would be sorry for the ancestors of the Shang dynasty. But if you don't get on the boat, how do you deal with each other?

Beat?

Just kidding, the three Western warships Ryukyu are afraid, not to mention hundreds? The total population of the Ryukyus is less than 200,000, although the conscription ratio is very high, but it is only 10,000 people, of which there are only 2,000 sailors, that is, dozens of small fishing boats, the last time the American fleet was charged and sunk several ships, and one was sunk with a single shell.

Shang Hongxun was thinking wildly, and the little king Shang Tai, surrounded by more than 100 palace guards, rode a dark yellow sedan chair and stood two or three miles away from the wharf.

"Your Majesty, why are you here? The old minister just told you, but you must not really get on the boat, in case the other party has bad intentions, you will be in danger. Shang Hongxun hurriedly ran over and reminded.

"The king knows. This king won't be that stupid on the ship, but just come and see how many warships there are. Shang Tai looked at the tallest Western warship docked in the port, and the hundreds of warships densely packed throughout the port of Naha, and finally his face changed.

Listening to hundreds of warships, just a number to listen to the next person, now seeing it with your own eyes, it is really shocking!

Shang Taiyou asked Shang Hongxun to send someone on the boat to see the angel, ask why the angel came, and only after asking clearly, he dared to meet the angel.

After a toss back and forth, the envoy sent replied: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, this is really a fleet from the Heavenly Empire. However, it was not the suzerainty of the Qing Dynasty, but its opponent, the Holy State formed by the rebels in the south. They have already occupied Taiwan, demanded that all of our Ryukyu Kingdom be incorporated into the Holy Kingdom, and said that they would make you the king the prince and have a fief. If they don't, their 30,000-strong army will set foot on our Ryukyu Kingdom. ”

After saying this, the Ryukyu envoy turned pale and trembled, and looked at King Sangtai and Prime Minister Shang Hongxun with pleading eyes, hoping that they would agree.

"Annexation to the Holy Kingdom? Is this to annex my Ryukyu in one bite and destroy the Shang Dynasty that I have inherited for hundreds of years? Prime Minister Shang Hongxun's face was also pale and he muttered.

Although King Shang Tai pretended to be strong, his eyes were misty and his nose was sour, and it was obvious that he was about to cry. But he bit his lip and said, "Uncle Wang, this king would rather die than lose the inheritance of his ancestors!" Don't think about it, if you want to fight, you will fight. The enemy was too strong, so he summoned all the Ryukyu soldiers back to Shuri Castle and held the castle. At the same time, he quietly sent people to the Qing Dynasty and the Satsuma Domain to ask for help. ”

I have to say that although Shangtai is young, he already has a generation of heroes. It's a pity that he met Luo Xuan, who was suffering from the loss of his son and had nowhere to put out the fire.

Yes, it was Luo Xuan, the commander of the 5th Division, and of course, Liang Peiyou, the commander of the 5th Division, who led more than 400 warships to attack the Ryukyu Kingdom, but he also listened to Luo's outline.

At this moment, on the flagship "Humen", Luo Jian heard the report from the lookout on the bow of the ship that the Ryukyus people on the wharf did not reply, but abandoned the wharf and withdrew to the capital, and was furious, and immediately ordered all the Ryukyu fishing boats next to the wharf to be captured, and ordered 3,000 people from the 5th Division A, 2,000 people from the 5th Division B, and 4,500 people from the 13th Brigade B13 on the ships to disembark and besiege the Ryukyu capital.

However, Liang Peiyou had already sent people ashore to attack everywhere and capture the Ryukyu soldiers and civilians who had not yet had time to enter the city. (To be continued.) )