During the New Year, Yin Feng finally had a reunion with his wives and concubines over the years. Zeng Qian's due date was in April. Yin Feng was very worried that he would miss the birth of his wife's first child once the Ryukyu War started, so he took the time to spend more time with her. Zeng Qian.
Preparations for the Ryukyu War are still going on intensively. Yin Feng's military expenditures and Ryukyu War funds have still not been approved by the board of directors. At the shareholders' dividend meeting, he was supported by the majority of shareholders because this year's dividends exceeded last year's, so he was dismissed. The reward was an extra 1,000 shares of dividend, worth approximately 200,000 taels of silver. Yin Feng resold these shares to some wealthy businessmen in Guangdong, and used the cash as military expenses to directly invest in the Guards.
No one wants to go to war with the Japanese, and most shareholders are very interested in seizing the territory of small feudal countries in Nanyang, showing a typical tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong. Many maritime merchants and pirates have dealt with Japanese pirates, and most of them know about Japanese pirates. He is tough and good at fighting, so he doesn't want to fight the Japanese for Ryukyu.
In March, it is approaching the time when the Japanese pirates are scheduled to dispatch troops. In the Taipei port area, the four main naval ships of the Navy, except the largest and newest Feilang, still need to be improved, so they remain in Taiwan. The remaining three ships will attack Ryukyu, with 4,000 Cyclonus Regiment. 1,000 soldiers and auxiliary troops, Li Kuiqi's professional artillery regiment, special battalion and other troops have been assembled at the Taiwan port. In addition, a large group of foreign mercenaries composed of Western adventurers have also been prepared at the Taiwan port.
"It's true that these Western hooligans fight desperately, but their military discipline is extremely poor and they kill people like crazy. We are the benevolent and righteous troops who rescue Ryukyu. It's not appropriate to let these foreigners go to Ryukyu to fight," Zeng Qi and Yin Feng said together in the South The fort watched the foreign mercenary team set sail for Taipei. He asked Yin Feng worriedly: "These foreigners are too murderous and do not distinguish between good and bad. This will make the Ryukyu people dissatisfied with our Chinese company..."
Zeng Qi had seen the tragic scenes of foreign mercenaries burning and killing Japanese towns in Luzon Island, and he had never had a good impression of them.
Seeing Zeng Qi's worried face, Yin Feng was really worried, so he had to whisper: "Father-in-law, don't worry, these foreign gangsters will not go to Ryukyu."
Zeng Qi was shocked and asked in a low voice: "Xian son-in-law, what is going on?"
Yin Feng looked around and said with a proud smile: "The Battle of Ryukyu is not only to save Ryukyu, but also to ensure that Ryukyu will no longer be invaded by the Satsuma clan in the future. Therefore, I will lead the Feizi battleship and the Li Xing Third Regiment. Part of it, coupled with foreign mercenaries, directly attacked the Satsuma domain itself,"
"Attack the Satsuma Domain and directly attack the Japanese mainland," Zeng Qi opened his mouth in surprise, almost not believing his ears. Before joining Yin Feng's cause, he had a very vague understanding of Japanese pirates and had no understanding of the situation in Japan. After Yin Feng's work, he gradually understood some general information about Japan through hearing and seeing, but he never imagined that Yin Feng would attack the Japanese mainland. You must know that when the Japanese pirates were at their most rampant, the Ming Dynasty did not Ability to reach the Japanese mainland.
"Offensive is the best defense. It defeated the biggest scourge in northern Ryukyu for hundreds of years, and also eliminated a hidden danger for us in northern Taiwan." Seeing his father-in-law's surprised look, Yin Feng could only continue to patiently explain: "This There are many vassal states in Japan, and the Tokugawa Shogunate is busy stabilizing the domestic situation. It will not be happy to see a strong vassal in the southwest; more importantly, Japan hopes to do business with our Ming Dynasty, so we It is certain that even if I defeat the Satsuma Domain, Japan will not go to war with us because of this. Even if we go to war, sea control is the most important, and the navy that is the most capable of fighting the Japanese pirates has been disintegrated. With the giant ship Feizi of our Zhonghua Company here, we And I am sure of victory,”
Zeng Qi nodded reluctantly: "It's better to be careful. If you can fight, fight. Don't force it."
Yin Feng nodded and said yes, but thought in his heart that his father-in-law had been in the traditional officialdom for a long time and really lacked understanding of the outside world. Tokugawa Ieyasu was now preparing to wipe out the last remnant of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's influence. Come on, the invasion of Ryukyu is just a trick to let the Satsuma clan consume its strength. If it succeeds, it can also make a profit. The Tokugawa shogunate will not suffer any loss.
At this moment, the Japanese's war preparations entered the final stage. The reason why the war was set to start in March was because only by this time could all the flintlock muskets equipped with the Shimadzu family's iron artillery team be produced, a total of two thousand.
This is the so-called Miura self-fired iron cannon. It was funded by the Shimadzu family and developed and manufactured by the British Miura Anzhen and Japanese craftsmen. The Japanese once learned gunpowder and gunpowder directly from the Portuguese. The manufacturing and use technology of matchlocks was quickly imitated into matchlocks with good shooting effects. The Japanese learned and improved weapon technology very quickly. Because the performance of matchlocks came from the superior handguns of the Ming Dynasty in China, they quickly gained the favor of Japan. With the support and promotion of major names, Japan started directly imitating Portuguese matchlocks at the beginning of its firearms manufacturing, instead of following the wrong path of North Korea's weapons manufacturing department imitating Chinese Ming Dynasty blunderbuss. After the successful trial production of Tanegashima blunderbuss, Japan's Tanegashima Blacksmithing, Shibazen Seiemon Blacksmithing, Sakai Irongun Blacksmithing, Kunitomo Irongun and other workshops manufactured all kinds of matchlocks in batches, which led to a climax in the manufacture of matchlocks in the late 16th century. During this climax, Japanese firearms developers made many improvements to the matchlock gun. Its performance has surpassed the matchlock gun made by the Portuguese and became an important weapon for the Japanese army's combat training.
The current batch of flintlock guns - tap-fire iron cannons were produced by workshops such as Sakai Iron Cannon Forging and Kunitomo Iron Cannon, which worked overtime. The Shimadzu family also made hundreds of them themselves. However, these first batch of 4,000 flintlock guns Half of the guns were sent to the Tokugawa Shogunate by Shimazu Tadashi, so only more than 2,000 of them could be put into combat.
Monk Dasmarinas has been conducting devilish training on the Shimadzu family's iron artillery team for half a year, and now it's finally time to put it into effect.
On March 7, the thirty-seventh year of Wanli (AD 1609, the fourteenth year of Keicho in Japan), the Shimazu family assembled 3,500 troops and more than a hundred ships in total, including Huashan Gonzaemon, guard Kudaka, Hirata Masumune, and Ijuin. Kumoto became the chief and deputy general. He was sworn in at Gion Island in Satsuma. On March 24, he set off from Yamakawa Port and arrived at Kuchionerabu Island within a few days. He anchored for one day and headed south the next day. After March 27 The ships that were separated due to ocean currents and storms regrouped, crossed the natural border between Japan and Ryukyu - the southern end of the Togara Islands, entered the waters of Ryukyu's Amami Oshima, and gathered at Fukaeura one after another to prepare for landing in Amami. Big island.
One month before the departure of the Satsuma army, the ronin "Batato Squadron" commanded by Tomo Yamaguchi, a shogunate, consisted of more than 1,000 people, 500 soldiers sent by Sendai Domain Date Masamune to support, and 100 samurai had already set off, with their destination pointing south.
In winter, there are more than a hundred merchant ships, fishing boats, and ferries moored in Taiwan Port. Most of them are Chinese merchant ships that transfer goods here. There are also merchant ships from Southeast Asia and Western countries, including five newly arrived Japanese merchant ships.
The lookout of the North Fort submitted a report in duplicate to the company security department, the escort military intelligence department, Lin Xiao and Yin Feng early. The report stated that two Zhusin ships from Sendai Clan and Nagasaki were arriving at the port for trade. , there is also a Japanese merchant ship flying the Shimadzu family's Maruchi flag, requesting Shangfeng's opinion on whether to allow it to dock.
What is the intention of the Satsuma clan's ship coming to Taiwan at this time?
Yin Feng brought Lin Xiao to have a meeting. The two felt that although the war was approaching, this was a merchant ship, so there seemed to be nothing suspicious about it. Moreover, after all, the Satsuma clan and the Zhonghua Company had not officially started a war, and they had not completely broken up with each other. There seemed to be no reason to refuse their support. Therefore, Yin Feng issued an order to send people from the third regiment guarding the port to the Satsuma Domain's ship to carefully inspect it. If there was no abnormality, it would be allowed to dock at the dock. At the same time, the guard force at the dock was strengthened, and the north and south forts were deployed on the Japanese ship. Please stay vigilant while in Hong Kong.
Yin Feng was still uneasy and asked Lin Xiao to send secret agents from the Ministry of Security to closely monitor the Japanese towns in the Anping area on the south coast.
Originally, Yin Feng was determined not to establish a Japanese town in Taiwan, but Han Ping and his son on the board of directors proposed to allow Japanese to reside in Taiwan Port. In addition, the trade volume between Chinese companies and Japan has been increasing in recent years, and people come and go frequently. Therefore, last year At that time, Yin Feng agreed to establish Nihon Machi east of Anping New Town on the south bank of the port. Now there are about 150 permanent residents in Nihon Machi.
…
"Master, it's time to get up,"
Yin Feng had been busy preparing for war and developing weapons during this period. He was really tired. He had to fight several times in Mai Waner's house last night, so he fell asleep in the morning. Mai Waner pushed him for a long time. Push awake.
"What are you doing? Today is a day off," Yin Feng lay down lazily and refused to get up. He touched Mai Wan'er conveniently. Both Taiwan Island and China Company implemented the traditional work and rest system of one bathing day every ten days, so Yin Feng today Wanting to stay in bed, Mai Wan'er jumped out of bed with a cute smile and said with a smile: "I think I forgot, today is the day when churches in Taiwan reopen. You promised Miss Li that you would accompany her to church."
"Ouch," Yin Feng rolled out of bed and said hurriedly: "Good Wan'er, change my clothes quickly, don't waste time..."
Wan'er pursed her lips and smiled: "Look at your memory."
After the Jesuit missionary Jin Nige and others returned to Beijing, they finally got Matteo Ricci's consent, agreed to Yin Feng's conditions, signed an agreement with him, and paid the first symbolic payment of compensation. Therefore, The Catholic Church in Taiwan officially reopened. At the same time, Matteo Ricci also sent several knowledgeable people to Taiwan and officially opened a science and technology school in Taiwan to teach students selected by the Chinese Company. Yin Feng even allowed missionaries to When the Bible is taught in science and technology schools, of course, students have the right to freely choose whether to listen or not.
In Yin Feng's plan, these erudite missionaries will be used to cultivate their own scientific and technological talents. Most of the foreign teachers in the original technical schools are craftsmen, technicians and wandering literati from Portugal and the Netherlands. At that time, European education The center is still in the hands of the church, and the Jesuits are the most active missionaries in learning new scientific and technological knowledge, so Yin Feng will let them open schools. Eventually, the technical school and the technical school will be merged to form the Taiwan University of Science and Technology, which will fully introduce European science technology.
As a means to win over the Jesuits, Yin Feng had no choice but to accompany Li Lihua to attend Sunday mass.
It was a sunny day. Except for the workers who worked overtime, there were far fewer people coming and going in the factory than usual. The commercial and market areas were still crowded, with merchants and vendors from various countries rubbing shoulders and bustling with each other.
The reopened church attracted all Catholics on the island of Taiwan, and the choir organized by Baradas also attracted thousands of people outside the church.
Yin Feng sat absent-mindedly in the church, listening to a Chinese priest chattering, but he didn't understand anything. He was worried about Chen Zhongji of Ryukyu: Why is there no news of war yet? Could it be that he, the one who messed up history, The big butterfly actually made the Ryukyu War disappear. No, the information that the Satsuma Domain is conducting military mobilization is not false. So, why hasn’t the Satsuma Domain started a war yet?