A few days later, in accordance with the "Regulations on Major Policy Proposals of Elders", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a relevant hearing.
Once the "major policy proposal" of the elders enters the hearing stage, the progress has reached more than 70%. As long as the proposer has no obvious loopholes at the meeting, it is highly likely to be passed.
However, many proposals failed at this hearing, and the main reason for their failure was actually the issue of resource investment.
Generally speaking, the greater the investment of resources, the proposal leader will have to convince the participants that the expected future gains will be greater. Once there is no clear argument in terms of "benefit" to prove that the proposal is "profitable", then
The possibility of being denied is very high.
Whether the plan to "establish diplomatic relations" with Ryukyu can be passed is actually at such a critical node.
Zhao Yanhao and He Ying have communicated privately, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not opposed to this project - after all, establishing a sense of presence is a necessary skill for every department. But He Ying is almost a polished commander now, and it involves the force required for the operation.
and resources, have to be supported by other ministries - especially the Navy and the Ministry of Finance. The former provides the gunboats, and the latter provides the money to operate the gunboats.
Strictly speaking, there is no economic gain in establishing diplomatic relations with Ryukyu. Ryukyu has no natural resources, the land is barren, and the country's population is only one hundred thousand. As for its international commercial port as a trade transit point for East Asia and Southeast Asia, "
The status of "Wan Guo Jin Liang" has been replaced by the emerging European maritime countries and Chinese maritime merchants in the 17th century. Not to mention that Ryukyu has been controlled by Satsuma and has been a puppet for more than 20 years.
The rest has only political and diplomatic significance. To be honest, He Ying is not sure whether Zhao Yanhao has the ability to persuade the elders present at the meeting.
Zhao Yanhao is actually not sure in his heart. Currently, almost all the elders who are guaranteed to support him are from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs system, including Si Kaide, Qiao Tianzhi, Ping Qiusheng... As for other elders, to be honest, he doesn't have many interactions with him on weekdays.
It is difficult to say whether the other party has an impression of me and what kind of impression it is.
After the host briefly introduced the content and background of the proposal at the hearing, it immediately aroused various questions from the elders.
The most mainstream opinion is that Ryukyu, a small island country with a population less than half that of Hainan, can just be occupied by armed force. There is no need to make it too complicated.
One veteran even made a generous speech: "Comrades, when you talk about Ryukyu, you may only think of national humiliation, but when you talk about its other name, Okinawa, what do you think of - the beach, the sea, and the beauties in swimsuits?" Then the elder
He looked distressed and said, "Some young comrades are greedy for enjoyment before they conquer Guangdong. When they get to Ryukyu, they will definitely hold Yukie in their left hand and Yui in their right hand, and live a happy life without shame or shame." He said
He took a breath and concluded, "Be aware of your shame! Know your shame!"
The attendees couldn’t stop laughing and burst into laughter.
The host of the meeting, He Ying, had to bang the gavel several times to ask everyone to be quiet. Then he turned to Zhao Yanhao:
"Mr. Zhao, please elaborate on the relevant plan."
Since we want to make plans for Ryukyu, we must first talk about its history. Although for most elders, Ryukyu only means three things: the Battle of Okinawa, the US military base and Yui Aragaki.
The name of the Ryukyu Kingdom comes from very early times. It is said that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty sent Lieutenant Zhu Kuan to the sea to visit foreign customs. When he sailed here, he saw this series of islands, "the land is bounded between thousands of waves,
"Meandering, like a dragon floating in the water", so it was named "Liuqiu".
Because Qiu is also a type of dragon, in the Tang Dynasty, when the "Book of Sui" was compiled, historians rewritten it as "Ryukyu". From then on, Ryukyu officially entered the history books.
The origin of the Ryukyu people is no longer reliable, but they are probably, like the ancestors of the Japanese, some Austronesian people who came across the sea from the north. They merged with immigrants from the East Asian continent and finally formed the Ryukyu nation.
Naturally, the Ryukyu people also have their own creation myth. It is said that their ancestor was a goddess named Amo Miku, who came to earth on the order of the Emperor of Heaven and created the Ryukyu Islands and the islanders.
"This name sounds quite similar to the Japanese..." Some elders commented.
"It's natural, because it's very convenient to go to Ryukyu from Japan. There have been exchanges between populations for a long time. It's normal for culture and language to influence each other." Zhao Yanhao said.
However, Ryukyu's civilization developed more slowly. According to the records of the Sui people, the Ryukyu Islands were still in a very primitive state at that time. There was no political power or king, and most of them were tribes based on villages. It was not until the 7th to 8th centuries.
, only then began the emergence of regional separatist regimes called "Jiansi".
These "Jiansi" controlled several villages and built their own small stone castles, just like small local lords.
This chaotic and unclear state lasted for six to seven hundred years, and the priests also attacked each other for six to seven hundred years. Until the Zhizheng period of the Yuan Dynasty, a man named Chadu appeared and was elected as Urasoe priest, and then became
King Zhongshan. Only after that did Ryukyu have a definite written history.
"Why is it called Zhongshan Kingdom?"
"There is actually a reason for this," Zhao Yanhao said, "because at that time, the main island of Okinawa had been divided into three countries. One was the Shanbei Kingdom located in the northern part of Okinawa, the Shannan Kingdom located in the south, and the Zhongshan Kingdom occupying the central and southern parts of Okinawa.
"
In 1372, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Yang Zai's envoys to Ryukyu and asked the then ruler Zhongshan King Chadu to pay tribute. Chadu immediately sent his brother as an envoy to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
There is no doubt that in East Asia, the "canonization" of the Chinese regime is very attractive. This not only means political recognition, but also huge economic benefits. Therefore, after the two kingdoms of Shannan and Shanbei learned about it, they also successively
Send envoys to "pay tribute".
The three mountains competed to pay tribute, claiming that they were Ryukyu pain relief. They fought endlessly with each other. This was the "Three Mountains Era" in Ryukyu history. In 1406, a place in the Shannan Kingdom raised troops according to the Sibashi and overthrew the military power of the Zhongshan Kingdom.
King Ning then asked Zhu Di for the title of King of Zhongshan. In the following ten years, he successively eliminated the Shanbei Kingdom and the Shannan Kingdom. In the fifth year of Xuande, Ming Xuanzong officially gave the surname "Shang". Ryukyu's first Shang dynasty
Standing on the stage of history.
During Shobashi's reign, he not only unified the three mountains, but also moved the capital from Urasoe to Shuri and renovated Naha Port. It became a hub for trade between China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, laying the foundation for the prosperity of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
.
The land of Ryukyu is barren and the population is small. It was founded mainly on trade. It accumulated a lot of wealth and was known as the "Jinjiang of All Nations". However, the first Sho clan dynasty did not last long, and was soon usurped by Minister Kanemaru.
In China's traditional tributary vassal system, usurping the throne and treason are both serious crimes. The least severe is to stop paying tribute, and the most severe is to attack with force. Therefore, although Kanemaru succeeded in usurping the throne, he could only pretend to be the son of the previous king Shode and change his name to Shogyuan. He created the second Shogun.
dynasty.
Although the Second Sho Dynasty was "improperly appointed", several kings were very capable. Especially when King Shojin was on the throne, he created the golden age of the Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1522, King Shojin sent troops to Yonaguni Island and pacified it.
After the "Ghost Tiger Rebellion", the Ryukyu Kingdom was formed from Kiki Island in the north to Yaeyama Island in the south, which was called "Three Provinces and Thirty-Six Islands". This was also the period when Ryukyu's national power was the strongest and its economy was the most prosperous.
However, the good times did not last long. With the arrival of sailing ships from European countries and the rise of Chinese maritime merchants, Ryukyu's trade intermediary status gradually declined. By 1570, Ryukyu had stopped sending official Nanyang trade fleets. At this time, for many years, Ryukyu had stopped sending official Nanyang trade fleets.
The accumulated wealth also began to be coveted by Japan's Sengoku daimyo. Finally in 1609, Satsuma sent troops to Ryukyu and conquered it.
"On the surface, Ryukyu is now an independent country that pays normal tribute to the Ming Dynasty, but in fact it has been reduced to a vassal of the Satsuma Domain for more than 20 years."
After the Satsuma clan occupied Ryukyu in 1609, they considered that once it was formally annexed, the trade between the Ming Dynasty and Ryukyu would be completely cut off. This would greatly affect Ryukyu's financial resources, and Satsuma would not be able to reap much benefit.
Under such considerations, the Satsuma Domain did not directly annex Ryukyu, but made it a vassal. Although the Satsuma Domain did not garrison troops in Ryukyu, it set up a zaiban in Ryukyu to monitor the Ryukyu court. In addition, it also forced the Ryukyu King Shang
King Ning signed the "Fifteen Articles", executed the third chief minister (prime minister) Zheng Zou, who was anti-Sa and pro-Ming, and stipulated that the subsequent third chief ministers must be pro-Salva people.
The Satsuma Domain is located in southern Kyushu and suffers from typhoons all year round. In fact, it can only produce 350,000 koku of grain a year. However, the height of the Satsuma Domain is 730,000 koku according to the Keichōchi inspection. The actual purpose of the Satsuma Domain is
Monopolizing Ryukyu's trade with China in the name of tribute and exploiting Ryukyu people were used to make up for the huge difference between the Satsuma Domain's stone height and its actual food output.
The Tokugawa shogunate turned a blind eye to the Satsuma clan's private trade with the Ming Dynasty. After all, this was a powerful clan outside the southwest, and it could not be forced too much. Fortunately, there was no spread of Christianity in Ryukyu, so the shogunate was generally relieved.
of.
Wu De, the representative of the Planning Institute, nodded, thinking that the soy sauce veteran had put in some effort, but the Japanese style of nodding while talking made him feel a little uncomfortable. So he asked: "Do you think it would be better to get in touch with Ryukyu?"
, what should be the ultimate goal?”
Zhao Yanhao then repeated what he said to He Ying a few days ago.
"... Another point is that we can use this to test the tone of the Satsuma clan, because I think it is impossible for Ryukyu to directly agree to trade with us. The Shimabara Rebellion broke out in early 1638, and during the Shimabara Rebellion, the Shimazu family
His attitude is very ambiguous, if possible, we can take the opportunity to win over him."
Using the Shimabara Rebellion to intervene in Japan was one of the consensuses of the Senate. Zhao Yanhao used this as an excuse and indeed won the nods of many senators.