"See His Majesty the King, see His Royal Highness the Princess!" After closing the door, Zhang Wenhan bowed his hands to the two of them.
"Angels don't have to be polite." King Shang Tai said with a smile like a little adult.
"You two have seen my note." Zhang Wenhan said directly.
"I would like to explain here that I am here not only as the deputy envoy of the imperial court, but also as the special envoy of the Liangjiang Governor's Office. I have been entrusted by Mr. Dong, the Governor of Liangjiang and Nanyang Minister, to handle Ryukyu affairs." Zhang Wenhan explained.
You must clearly distinguish between the Huaihai Navy and the Qing court with King Shangtai. With their political wisdom, they should be able to understand what Zhang Wenhan said.
"I understand. Was it you adults who signed the treaty with the shogunate in Japan?" The young King Shangtai was extremely smart, and he immediately remembered the whole story.
"Exactly, to be precise, it is the Huai Navy under the leadership of our lord. We are still the army of the imperial court, but we are relatively independent. I don't know if His Majesty the King can understand my explanation like this."
Princess Shangyun on the side opened her mouth in shock. It turned out that it was just a local force of the Qing court that had done so many great things in Japan.
"So special envoy, who will be canonized this time?" Princess Shangyun couldn't help but ask.
"You have also read the imperial edict. There is no problem with the canonization this time. Our envoy is definitely an official of the Lifan Yuan." Zhang Wenhan spread his hands and said.
"But this imperial edict was also requested from the imperial court by our Lord Governor." Zhang Wenhan added emphatically.
"I, the entire Ryukyu Kingdom, would like to thank Mr. Dong for your great kindness." Princess Shangyun was the first to respond and thanked him.
As King Shangtai listened, he became more and more curious about the Governor-General Dong. He was really a unique Qing official, and he had set his sights on Japan and Ryukyu.
"Haha, don't worry, Mr. Dong will arrive in Ryukyu soon. You two can express your gratitude in front of Mr. Dong then." Zhang Wenhan said with a smile.
"Master Dong is coming to Ryukyu? Why?" King Shangtai asked curiously. After he finished asking, King Shangtai realized that he had asked the wrong question.
Suddenly, Zhang Wenhan's expression changed, his whole person became gloomy, and he said sternly to King Shangtai: "Master Dong asked me to ask the King of Ryukyu why he is a vassal state of our Qing Dynasty but at the same time pays tribute to Japan?"
King Shangtai had never seen someone talk to him like this, and he almost knelt down as his knees weakened.
Fortunately, Princess Shang Yun reacted quickly and supported King Shang Tai, and then said: "Sir, please calm down. We, the Ryukyu Kingdom, have no choice but to pay tribute to Japan."
"Japan's Satsuma clan has been invading Ryukyu for many years and has stationed thousands of soldiers near our royal city. Once Ryukyu does not meet its extortion, it will destroy our country. We, a small and poor people in Ryukyu, how can we resist them? We can only compromise and seek compromise first.
Preserve the Ryukyu Kingdom."
"Please envoy to save Ryukyu Kingdom." As she said this, Princess Shangyun really knelt down with Zhang Wenhan.
"Princess, please get up! This is impossible." Zhang Wenhan did not expect that Princess Shang Yun would actually kneel down to him, and her momentum suddenly weakened.
After saying that, he stretched out his hand to help Princess Shangyun. When his hand touched Princess Shangyun's arm, he realized that this was not appropriate.
He wanted to retract his hand again, but this almost caused Princess Shangyun to fall. So he used his hand to help her up again.
This moment made Princess Shang Yun's cheeks slightly red, and she was extremely embarrassed.
In order to break this embarrassing situation, Zhang Wenhan quickly said: "This time our Lord is leading troops to Ryukyu to help Ryukyu clean up the Japanese on the island. When the time comes, Your Lordship will also lead troops to punish the Satsuma Domain of Japan. I hope that the Ryukyu Kingdom will not be allowed to do so again in the future.
There are two minds."
"My lord, the Ryukyu Kingdom is definitely the suzerain country. I dare not have any second thoughts. But my lord, if we defeat the Japanese, what will happen if they come back in the future? How can I, Ryukyu, resist?" King Shangtai asked carefully. This is a lot of Ryukyus.
A problem that everyone is worried about. Japan is much closer to Ryukyu than the Qing Dynasty is to Ryukyu. As the saying goes, water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the near. If the Japanese come to kill us again, then we will have no way to turn.
"We adults have already considered this situation. In the future, our Huai Navy will station troops in Ryukyu for a long time, and our naval fleet will also establish a military port in Naha to protect the safety of Ryukyu." Zhang Wenhan said.
King Shangtai opened his eyes wide. Obviously he did not expect that the Qing court, oh no, Huai Haijun could help so thoroughly this time.
"Isn't the king worried that our Huaihai navy will covet Ryukyu's land?"
"Oh, of course not. Don't get me wrong, sir. Xiao Wang is too excited. It is my honor to live under the protection of the superior country."
Shang Tai really wasn't too worried about this. How could the Celestial Kingdom take such good notice of a land like Ryukyu?
"King, princess, you must strengthen the protection of Shuri Castle in the past few days. In two days, our adults will lead the army to Naha. I am worried that the Japanese will be detrimental to the king." Zhang Wenhan said worriedly.
"Yes, Xiao Wang will definitely do it." King Shang Tai said immediately. He had asked Cai Mao to make arrangements a few days ago.
For the next two days, the envoy stayed at the palace and did not go anywhere.
At the Japanese camp, Xigo Longsheng found Huashan Yanyuan: "Huashan Jun, aren't you surprised? Why haven't the Qing envoys left yet?"
Huashan Gaoyuan glanced at Saigo Takamori: "Young man, don't be so impatient. Maybe the mission just wants to rest in the palace for a few more days. Qing officials like this. Maybe our Ryukyu King entertained us too attentively.
.You are not worried about the two hundred guards, are you?"
Huashan Yanyuan doesn't like Saigo Takamori. These young people nowadays are too sharp. They like to show off themselves in front of the feudal lord, but they have no real ability.
…
The sensation caused by the angel's arrival gradually subsided in the past two days. People living in the port continued to provide various services to the ships transiting the port as usual. The vendors on the port selling food and fresh water to the merchant ships were still there.
He was shouting.
The Japanese force who helped merchant ships carry things was also looking for work in the port under the leadership of the foreman.
Suddenly people looked at the distant sky, where a forest of white sails appeared. There were several smoke pillars behind the forest of sails, which were supply ships transporting troops and supplies.
Such a large fleet will only be one fleet, and there will not be so many merchant ships moving together.
When the ship got closer, people confirmed their guesses.
Some merchant ships on the docks have moved out of the way and headed to the open sea. It is an international practice for merchant ships to move out of the way when warships enter the port.
There were also some merchant ships from Britain, France, the United States, the Netherlands and other countries on the dock, and they all left the dock one after another. Even if they were used to being ruthless and domineering, they would not collide with such a huge fleet.
At the head of the fleet are six huge cruisers. Their tall masts and flat and slender hulls allow them to achieve extremely fast speeds.
The water on the bow of the ship was plowed open by the strong bow, leaving six long white lines on the sea.
At this time, sirens sounded in the Japanese military camp.
It’s here, it’s finally here!
The Japanese lookout at the dock had used binoculars to confirm that this fleet was the Qing fleet.
The golden dragon flag flying above the fleet mast is unusually eye-catching.
"Saigo-kun, you go to the port to stop the Qing people from landing, and I will capture Shuri Castle. After I take control of King Shotai, I will ask him to mobilize the Ryukyu army to fight against the Qing people." Kagoyama Kaigen said.
This is the strategy Shimazu Saibin decided early on.
"Hi!" Xixiang Longsheng didn't care at all that Huashan Yanyuan sent him to a more dangerous dock.
He felt that this was the right thing to do, and letting his new army bully those useless Ryukyu troops in Shuri Castle was simply overqualified and underused.
Without further ado, the Japanese took action quickly.
Kaguyama Kaiyuan led the army to quickly attack Shuri Castle. The Japanese had a deep hidden secret in the city, so Kagoyama Kaiyuan was not worried at all about being blocked outside the city wall.
Shuri Castle also received news of the arrival of the Huai Navy fleet.
"Special envoy, what should we do?" King Shang Tai quickly sent someone to call Zhang Wenhan over. At the same time, Princess Shang Yun was also called. Now the most critical moment has been reached.
After all, King Shangtai is young and a little nervous. At this time, he urgently needs someone reliable to help him make decisions.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to panic. Our Lords have already made arrangements. You just need to guard the city gate. Our army will arrive soon."
"Report..." At this time, a young guard general ran in, "Report to your Majesty, the Japanese Ashigaru team is coming towards the royal city, and General Cai is organizing people to go to the city to resist."
At this time, hundreds of officials also rushed to the palace, and all the heads of families in the city were clearly present. No matter whether they were pro-China or pro-Japanese, they were always on the Ryukyu boat.
Perhaps because they were worried, no one noticed that one of the officials was missing today.
The Japanese were very fast. The Japanese military camp was originally set up to monitor Shuri Castle and was very close to Shuri Castle.
When Huashan Yanyuan led his troops to Shuri City, Cai Mao had already led his men to blockade the four gates.
"Baga, these Ryukyu people dare to resist. We will capture Shuri Castle today, and you can indulge yourself for three days." Kagama Kagigen shouted loudly to his soldiers.
He sent the city gate to Yamamoto Seiichi to attack, while he sneaked to the north gate.
"bluff..." A deafening cheer sounded from the Japanese ashigaru phalanx.
"Fool, bluff, bluff..." the chant sounded, and the Japanese ashigaru phalanx approached the city wall with the chant. The sword and shield soldiers in front held up their shields to protect the archers and pushed towards the city wall.
The Ryukyu soldiers on the wall nervously held their weapons. Deep in their hearts, they were full of fear of these Japanese.
"Brothers, don't be afraid, the heavenly soldiers have landed at the port. As long as we hold on for a while, the heavenly soldiers will kill us." Cai Mao cheered loudly from the top of the city.
In the Tongfu Inn, Wang Qiao led his team to make final preparations. They put on their combat uniforms and assembled their rifles. The bullet belts were slung over their shoulders, and the bullet belts were filled with Huang Tongtong's bullets.
.
Because the brass bullets of the Type 53 rifle also use black powder as propellant, the caliber of the gun is larger than that of later rifles. The bullets are very eye-catching.
Everyone has at least ten grenades on their backs. There are also four team members playing with two grenades. The grenade is only fifty or sixty centimeters long. It is not much more difficult to carry than a rifle, and it is better than artillery in street fighting.
Used. So they became the favorite of special operations team members.