After listening to Dong Shuheng's words, both King Shangtai and Princess Shangyun suddenly realized. Naha has been occupied by the Satsuma clan for the past two hundred years, and the tribute trade has been controlled by the Satsuma clan. So even Shangtai did not know this situation.
According to Dong Shuheng's discussion, Ryukyu must make reforms, otherwise it will continue to sink, be marginalized, and eventually become an obscure and poor island country.
"King Shouta, I will send someone to manage Naha next. Naha will become a commercial city and the economic center of Ryukyu."
"Of course, if you want to take back the management rights of Naha, I can return it to you, but you have to know that on the East China Sea, a transportation artery, Ryukyu faces too many threats. The Japanese, Americans, and British...
They don’t mind taking Ryukyu, the stopping point, into their own hands.” Dong Shuheng looked at King Shang Tai and said.
"Master Dong, Xiao Wang has no such idea. Compared to the ambitious Japan and the barbaric and greedy United States, I prefer to believe in the Heavenly Kingdom." King Shangtai said.
"Ryukyu is just a small island country, with less than a million people and no more than a hundred miles of land. I am self-aware, and I am still young, so I hope that for the sake of the people of Ryukyu, you can protect Ryukyu. Ryukyu's political affairs
All of you will obey your orders." Dong Shuheng, the author of Shangtai Dynasty, said with cupped hands.
"What a sensible child!" Dong Shuheng thought to himself.
"King Shangtai, you can rest assured that I am here to guarantee that as long as the Celestial Empire is still there, your Shang family's country will continue forever." Dong Shuheng looked at King Shangtai and his sister, and said solemnly. The implication of Dong Shuheng's words is that as long as you
Follow me and I will always protect you.
"Thank you, sir!" the brother and sister said together.
"Sir, Xiao Wang has a request."
"Oh, what's your request? Let me hear it."
"Xiao Wang wants to study in China." As soon as he said this, his sister Shang Yun looked over in shock. She did not expect that her brother would show up like this. If he went to study, who would be in charge of Ryukyu's political affairs?
?
"Reading? Good. It would be great if King Shang Tai could read more and go out for a walk. It would also be great to learn more about it." Dong Shuheng said with a smile.
"How old is your Highness this year?" Dong Shuheng asked again.
"Well, Xiao Wang is 12 years old this year." Dong Shuheng spoke more casually, without the habit of being wordy like other officials. So when Dong Shuheng asked Shang Tai's age directly, he didn't think much about it.
"Let's do this. I haven't accepted a disciple yet, so you can become my disciple."
The other three people kept their eyes wide open after hearing this.
Shang Yun and Shang Tai also learned a lot about the situation of Huai Haijun from Zhang Wenhan. Mr. Dong was one of the most powerful figures in the Celestial Dynasty. Almost no one dared to challenge him. Even the imperial court had to compromise with him.
Such a person is also a master of Western learning.
If you can become his disciple, you will undoubtedly add a protective halo to Ryukyu.
Originally, Shang Yun had doubts about his younger brother going to study in China, but now that he heard that Dong Shuheng wanted to accept Shang Tai as his disciple, he was very supportive.
"Students pay homage to their teachers!" Before paying homage to Dong Shuheng, Shang Tai felt somewhat unnatural. After all, he was also the king of a vassal country.
Things are different now. King Shangtai, who has studied Confucian culture since childhood, knows that the Han people value the friendship between teachers and students the most.
It is natural for students to pay homage to their teacher. Even the princes and grandsons of the Celestial Dynasty must pay homage to their master when they see him.
Early the next morning, Ryukyu King Shang Tai convened a meeting of civil and military officials and announced several major events that shocked Ryukyu:
First, King Shangtai himself planned to study after the death of Lord Dong, the governor of the Celestial Dynasty, and the Ryukyu Kingdom was temporarily supervised by Princess Shangyun.
The second is to establish Naha City, with Zhang Wenhan as the first mayor of Naha City. Naha City has complete independent development rights.
Dong Shuheng saw Zhang Wenhan and the Ryukyu princess flirting with each other yesterday, and he suddenly had a bad taste in his heart. After discussing the matter with Zhang Wenhan, he decided to let him stay to help Huai Haijun manage Naha City. Regarding the development of Naha, Dong Shuheng had already thought about it.
Made a plan.
Militarily, this will serve as a bridgehead for the navy to enter the Pacific. It will also serve as a line of defense against enemies coming from the Pacific.
The entire Ryukyu Islands is dotted east of the East China Sea like a necklace of pearls. This island chain can provide good conditions for fleet cruising.
After Naha is developed and allocates its energy, the Huai Navy will also develop the islands south of Ryukyu, at least to provide the ability to dock ships there, plus Taiwan's Keelung Island, so that the Huai Navy can rely on the Ryukyu Islands to block the Pacific Ocean
Access to China. This is only the first step in Dong Shuheng’s Pacific strategy.
The third is to sign the "Protection Treaty". The Huai Navy will establish a military port and a military base in Naha. The Huai Navy has permanent use rights to the military port and military base. The Huai Navy will protect the security of Ryukyu in accordance with the treaty.
The fourth is to establish the Ryukyu National Defense Force. All Ryukyu residents, regardless of race, can participate in the selection. The new Ryukyu National Defense Force will be trained with the help of the Huai Navy, and the officers will also be trained by the Huai Navy. In the future, they will be responsible for cooperating with the Huai Navy to protect the security of Ryukyu.
At the same time, an issue of "Huaihai News" was also published in Ryukyu. This "Huaihai News" first described the history of Satsuma Domain's colonial oppression of Ryukyu, and then described the entire process of the Huai Navy's liberation of Ryukyu, and even used a lot of space to focus on it.
Some touching stories.
For example, in order to protect the safety of the people inside, Dong Shuheng did not allow the use of naval guns, allowing the soldiers to sacrifice themselves in exchange for the safety of the people. For example, the special forces in the city rescued the people who were being held hostage time and time again, but suffered huge casualties themselves.
If yesterday's military parade brought a direct shock to the residents of Naha City, then today's newspaper brought a huge psychological impact to the people of Naha.
Naha is a commercial city with many literate people, especially businessmen. Most of them are literate, and they use Chinese characters. Ryukyu does not have its own written language.
Therefore, the contents of the newspaper were quickly circulated in Naha Port, and the "Protection Treaty" signed by Ryukyu and the Huai Navy was also attached to the back of the newspaper.
No one, including the Ryukyu people, said a word "no" to this security treaty. Everyone would not think that the Huai Navy had invaded Ryukyu's sovereignty, but they were grateful that Ryukyu had finally found a strong backer.
"Sister, what are you reading? Hey, it's a newspaper. You actually spent money to buy a newspaper. If dad finds out, he will definitely scold you. It's much cheaper to have someone reading the newspaper on the street." Tongfu
In the inn, the younger brother of the Hu family saw his elder sister peeking at a newspaper and asked curiously.
As he said that, he grabbed the newspaper and said, "Hehe, sister, let me read it first." He ran to his room.
"Hu Duofu, give it back to me quickly!" My sister hurriedly chased after me.
"Hey, isn't this Brother Wang?" Hu Duofu was running and looking, and suddenly stopped. Photography technology was already available at this time, so the newspaper not only had text but also pictures. The newspaper's character introduction column had a column
Photos of Zhang Wangqiao in military uniform.
Hu Zhaodi snatched the newspaper and ran back to the room with small steps.
Duofu said nothing more and stood there thoughtfully.
Let's talk about the "Huaihai News". This newspaper was authorized by Dong Shuheng to be published by the Commercial Press in Shanghai after he returned from the capital.
This newspaper will no longer be limited to business reports, but will be a comprehensive newspaper. Dong Shuheng plans to make this newspaper a mouthpiece for promoting the Huaihai Navy. How can people from the 21st century not know the role of public opinion.
Those countries in later generations that claim to be free and democratic have not firmly grasped the news and newspapers in their own hands, and fabricated some nutritious lies all day long for their own interests to attack others and beautify themselves.
Huai Haijun's operation in Ryukyu will also spread to the country through newspapers. Since returning to the capital, Dong Shuheng has become more and more careless.
Most of the knowledgeable people in the country still sympathize with the Qing court. Everyone has been influenced by Confucianism, and most people have some orthodox ideas in their hearts.
In their eyes, Huai Haijun was still a local warlord. How could these proud Qing literati think highly of a warlord?
Although Dong Shuheng also looked down upon these old literati, these people were at least literate. Aren't some of the reformists in the late Qing Dynasty also born from old literati?
This shows that Chinese literati are not inherently conservative, they will also adapt to current events.
Just like the people currently employed by the Huaihai Navy government. They are actually old scholars, but after joining the Huaihai Navy, they will change themselves according to Dong Shuheng's needs.
Therefore, China's Confucian education is actually a kind of political education. The literati educated under this model serve the rulers, and they will change themselves according to the needs of the rulers.
Just like the various dynasties in history, some were conservative, some were open, some were cowardly, and some were tough. There were military expansion eras like the Han and Tang Dynasties, and there were commercially prosperous societies like the Song Dynasty.
But the people used by rulers in different periods were all educated under the same model.
Therefore, Dong Shuheng felt that the main purpose of wooing the domestic literati class was to win over them. How to win over them?
Of course, publicity was used to let these people see the achievements of Huai Haijun. Most literati have a dream of the Han and Tang Dynasties in their hearts. Otherwise, there are so many poems and songs in the past dynasties, and Tang Zong and Han Wudu would not be so highly praised.
Now the Huai Navy has protected the vassal states in Ryukyu, protected overseas Chinese, and defeated the Japanese bandit Satsuma Domain. This kind of thing is considered prestigious overseas and is worthy of bragging, and the literati at home are also proud of it.
As for the spread of this newspaper to the small Chinese countries and inhabited areas in Southeast Asia, the Chinese people gradually became more concerned and began to realize that they actively fought for their own rights and interests, so that it attracted the attention of the colonial authorities.
In the end, a serious round of anti-Chinese incidents broke out, which is a story for another time.
Dong Shuheng did not stay in Ryukyu for long, leaving behind some of his troops and the officer corps that helped Ryukyu establish the national defense force.
A large force boarded ships and marched toward Kyushu in Japan. The Satsuma clan, the rightful owner of Ryukyu, had not been punished yet! This matter was not over yet.
Also boarding the ship this time was Ryukyu King Shang Tai. Since he had already accepted Dong Shuheng as his teacher, he naturally wanted to learn from Dong Shuheng.
However, King Shang Tai also went to Japan this time with the intention of seeing with his own eyes how great revenge would be repaid. Children are always a little narrow-minded.
The government affairs of Ryukyu are all handed over to Princess Shangyun and Prime Minister Lin Wenxuan. Lin Wenxuan is fully responsible for the construction of Naha City. Of course, the main political affairs of Ryukyu are currently concentrated in Naha.
Apart from the matter in Naha, the remaining things in Ryukyu are mainly to promote the cultivation of sugar cane. In the future, Ryukyu will mainly develop the sugar industry. Sugar is a commodity that Huaihai Navy needs to import now. Ryukyu develops the sugar industry and will not need it at all in the future.
Worry about sales.
Due to political needs, Lin Wenxuan could often see Princess Shang Yun, and the relationship between the two grew day by day. In the end, Lin Wenxuan lived up to expectations and successfully made the princess Huai Haijun's daughter-in-law.
One of the kings and princesses of the Ryukyu Kingdom is a student of Dong Shuheng, and the other is the daughter-in-law of Huai Haijun. The Ryukyu Kingdom can only move forward tied to Huai Haijun's chariot.