King Shangtai made such a secret arrangement today to summon Cai Mao, the general of the Imperial Guard of Shuri Castle, alone.
Even though King Shang Tai is only 12 years old, he is much more mature than his peers since he was on the throne since he was young. At least the way he handles things is not like a teenager at all.
"General Cai, do you know about the treaty signed between the Qing Dynasty and the shogunate?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, a businessman has brought the news about this matter a long time ago. Is there any problem with this matter, Your Majesty?" Cai Mao is a soldier. Although he is loyal to the royal family, as a soldier, his political sensitivity is still
A little bad.
"Have you not noticed that the Satsuma troops in Naha have been patrolling more frequently than before in the past few days?"
"So, I think something big is going to happen in Ryukyu. Since all the Qing people have arrived in Japan, it is impossible not to know about the situation in Ryukyu. If they have the ability to intervene in Japan's affairs, they can solve Ryukyu's problem along the way.
.”
"General Cai, I think this is an opportunity, an opportunity to get rid of the Japanese. After all, our Ryukyus are still the official vassal states of the Qing Dynasty. In the hands of the Japanese, we will be annexed sooner or later. Japan is an island country like us. And the Qing Dynasty
The land is vast and abundant, and as long as we are loyal to the Qing Dynasty, we can always ensure the inheritance of Ryukyu's society. And by following the Qing Dynasty, our Ryukyu people will live a better life."
"Your Majesty, everything you said is right, but the risk of this matter is too great. Please never tell others about it. We, the Imperial Guard, swear to be loyal to the King to the death. I will remember the King's reminder, but
I think the most important thing is to defend Shuri Castle first."
"Well, General Cai is right, we will wait and see what happens."
"In addition, I also asked General Cai to secretly strengthen the guards of the palace. I am worried that the Samo people will jump over the wall in a hurry."
Shang Tai already knew that he was afraid of death at a young age and knew that he must protect his own safety first, so that he would grow into a qualified king in the future.
At the pier of Naha Port, a merchant ship docked. There were more sailors on this merchant ship than other ships. But at Naha Port, no one would take care of this.
These crew members dispersed and entered the port city just like ordinary crew members. However, each of them was carrying a baggage.
Tongfu Inn is a small inn run by Chinese, mainly used for sailors who have been wandering at sea for a long time to rest.
The inn is divided into a front yard and a backyard. There is a small hall in the front yard, which is where guests eat and drink. The inn will provide guests with meals and drinks.
The owner of the inn is named Hu, and his ancestors moved here from Fujian. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang moved a total of eight families from Fujian to Ryukyu, and these people gradually took root there.
These people have deeply influenced the local people. When the Chinese arrive in Ryukyu, they will find that the living habits of the people here are very similar to those of the Fujian people.
The business of the inn is up and down, and most sailors will not spend money to go ashore to stay in the inn. Only those merchant ships that go to the ocean, the sailors will go ashore to rest after drifting at sea for a long time.
Most of the ocean-going merchant ships are owned by foreigners. Shopkeeper Hu doesn't like to receive foreign guests. After drinking, these people often smash things in the inn, and some even refuse to pay.
The Japanese who managed the port did not dare to provoke them.
But today, more than 20 people came to the inn one after another, and they were all Chinese. Each of them was carrying a long baggage.
The leader, a middle-aged man, is also a Fujianese.
"Shopkeeper, I want to discuss something with you. Can we book this place? It just so happens that the rooms here are almost full. We can give you some money for the remaining rooms, okay?" said the middle-aged man.
The man said in Mandarin with a strong Fujian accent.
The shopkeeper immediately recognized that this man was from Fujian.
The shopkeeper quickly asked: "Is this brother from Fujian?"
"From Quanzhou."
"Oh what a coincidence, my ancestors are also from Quanzhou." Shopkeeper Hu said happily.
"I'm going to close the door right now. With so many of you staying here, it's still a good deal if I don't accept new guests, so I don't need to pay more." After saying that, shopkeeper Hu walked to the door of the inn and put a board on the door.
The middle-aged man saw that shopkeeper Hu was getting older, so he also followed him to help.
"Shopkeeper, why don't you have a waiter in your store?" asked the middle-aged man.
"Hey, it's a small store. What kind of assistant do you want? There aren't usually many customers. Quanzi usually helps in the store, but he went out to buy things now." Shopkeeper Hu said.
His shop was passed down from his ancestors, but his family was not prosperous, and it was only passed down to his son, so you can only pass the shop on to this son.
After the shop door was closed, the middle-aged man and his subordinates arranged their own rooms. The rooms here are all large rooms that can accommodate several people at the same time, but fortunately they are clean and tidy.
After a while, shopkeeper Hu's wife and daughter prepared the meal. The meal was very simple, a large basin of seafood chowder with various shellfish, crabs and sea fish in it. The staple food was rice steamed in wooden barrels.
Although the soup contains shellfish, crabs and small fish picked up from the beach, the color of the soup has turned into a milky white color. I don’t know what method the shopkeeper’s wife used to make it.
Smelling this smell, the team members had already moved their index fingers. The middle-aged man was from Fujian, and he knew that Fujian people are best at making soup, and they had never tasted it in Jiangsu for many years.
The middle-aged man didn’t expect to be able to taste the taste of his hometown when he arrived in Naha.
Dozens of team members gathered around the dining table to eat.
Shopkeeper Hu's daughter did look pretty good. Several team members couldn't help but look at her a few more times.
"Bah bang bang..." The middle-aged man knocked on everyone's forehead.
"Good-for-nothing." The middle-aged man cursed in a low voice.
The daughter of the Hu family, who was about to reach the kitchen door, seemed to hear her and walked into the kitchen with a small step.
Shopkeeper Hu also smiled knowingly at the counter. These young men looked quite decent.
This team was a special operations team of the Huaihai Navy, and they were accompanied by a team of people from the Operations Bureau of the Intelligence Department. However, the rats did not stay with them, and they had no idea where they had gone.
A middle-aged man named Wang Qiao is the captain of this team. Their tasks are different from those of the Action Bureau.
The Operations Bureau is mainly responsible for collecting intelligence on Naha. Their special operations team has to lurk and cooperate inside and outside at critical moments.
The merchant ship that sent them over was the Huaihai Company's merchant ship. In order not to attract attention, the merchant ship left after replenishing water.
In fact, the Huaihai Company's fleet often replenishes supplies here. However, the Satsuma clan's colonial model in Ryukyu has lasted for hundreds of years. Without Dong Shuheng's instructions, merchant ships would not pay attention to this aspect.
Wang Qiao handed ten silver dollars to Shopkeeper Hu and said, "Shopkeeper, we may have to stay here for a few more days. This money is given to you separately. I will make something good for the brothers to eat in the past few days."
"Haha, I know, the guests are so polite." Although he said this, shopkeeper Hu still put the silver dollars away.
This is a very popular Yangtze River silver dollar on the market, and its fineness is even better than the Yingyang made by foreigners.
On the front is the Chinese character for one yuan, and on the back is a Yangtze River pattern drawn like a giant dragon, with the word Yangtze River above the pattern.
After the Yangtze River Bank was fully developed, it no longer imitated Mexican eagles, but instead minted its own silver coins. Anyway, the Qing government would not trouble the bank because of these things.
Shopkeeper Hu now feels that these people are not like ordinary sailors. These people are not stingy in their actions, and they are polite in their words. There is a trace of righteousness in their actions.
However, as an inn owner, Lao Hu has never seen what kind of person he is. Regardless of where he comes from, Lao Hu still has this most basic professionalism.
On the other hand, the team from the Operation Bureau led by Hou Hao also boarded Naha. Unlike Wang Qiao, they just found a place to lurk in the city.
As soon as they land, they have to find a deserted place and dress up as various people. Some dress up as beggars, some dress up as wealthy businessmen, some dress up as hawkers, some dress up as sailors, and some dress up as Japanese.
Ronin.
The reason for this is to make it easier to find information. Their work is all proactive, and if they stay there, there is no way information will come to them.
Hou Hao plays a wealthy businessman from the Qing Dynasty. He wanders around various shops with his two followers.
From time to time, I would chat with the shopkeeper in the store. The seemingly aimless chats turned into complete information when gathered together.
Through the chat just now, Hou Hao learned some general information that everyone on the island knows. For example, the Satsuma clan has more than two thousand ashigaru stationed on the island, led by General Kayama Rigen. There is even the young man from Shuri Castle.
Some rumors about the king.
From these rumors, Hou Hao could feel the little king's dissatisfaction with the Japanese. This was very consistent with the normal mentality of a king of a small country.
No one would want someone sitting on top of their head to suck their blood, let alone a small country like Ryukyu that doesn't have many resources.
"Boss, give me some money for your meal!" At this time, a dirty and annoying beggar came over.
"Go away!" The two followers quickly ran forward and pushed the beggar away.
At the moment of contact, the beggar stuffed a note and gave it to the follower.
When no one was around, the attendant handed the note to Hou Hao.
"Why did the Japanese suddenly stockpile supplies?" Hou Hao said to himself.
The information on the note is that the Japanese military camp on the island has recently purchased a lot of food supplies. This has never happened before.
Moreover, the supplies stocked this time far exceeded their requirements.
On the other side, there is the Japanese military camp. Huashan Liyuan is complaining to Yamamoto Seiichi there.
"Does the feudal lord not believe in our fighting ability? Why did he send that young boy from Saigo to Ryukyu?"
"Kabayama-kun, please pay attention to your speech. As a samurai, you cannot talk about the head of the family behind his back." Yamamoto Seiichi is a very traditional samurai. He is definitely the head of the Shimazu family.
Even if an old retainer like Huashan Liyuan complained about the family head in front of him, he would not be able to accept it.
"Hey, Yamamoto-kun, it was me who spoke." Huashan Liyuan knew the character of his assistant, so he didn't mind him talking to him like this.
"Yamamoto-kun, how about asking you to prepare supplies? There are more than 2,000 people in Saigo and the others." Kagama Geng asked. After Saigo Takamori's new army arrived in Naha, the supply of logistics supplies was very high.
Huashan Yanyuan and the others are responsible.
This time Shimazu Qibin took out all the Shimazu family's wealth, not only the equipment of the two thousand new troops, but also some artillery, and even bought three gunboats.
Even the French are wondering why the Japanese, who have always been stingy, are so generous this time.
Shimazu Saibin blocked the fate of his family this time. The Qing people settled in Japan, which was a major change for Japan that had not happened in a thousand years.