Chapter 602: Ryukyu Kingdom

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Zhao Xu gestured to Xu Ke, telling him to return first.

Before long, Feng'er led a man over fifty years old into the study.

This man's hair and beard were half white, and his figure was thin and frail; no matter how one looked at it, he could not connect him with the Heir of Ryukyu.

He looked more like a poor, pedantic Confucian scholar.

"Heir of Ryukyu Shang Bin pays respects to His Highness the Yan Wang." Upon seeing Zhao Xu, the old man performed a bow.

"No need for formalities." Zhao Xu displayed a gentle smile, gestured for him to sit, and had Feng'er pour him a cup of tea.

In terms of titles, he was the Yan Wang, while Shang Bin was the Heir.

If they were of the same kingdom, he would have had to bow to Shang Bin.

However, the Ryukyu Kingdom had always been a vassal state of Great Song, paying tribute to Great Song every year.

The King of Ryukyu was merely a subject of Great Song.

Therefore, even though Shang Bin held the title of Heir, he still had to perform the rites to him.

Seeming to have cried until exhausted and feeling thirsty, Shang Bin drank the water in the tea, then looked toward Zhao Xu.

After sizing him up carefully, Shang Bin said, "Meeting for the first time, I have let Your Highness the Yan Wang laugh at me, but I am truly helpless. The Emperor said he no longer manages the affairs of Great Song and told me to come find Your Highness, so I had no choice but to come."

Zhao Xu nodded, "It is no matter, there is no laughing at anyone. It should be that Great Song has failed Ryukyu. Regarding this matter, I had already heard of it while in Jingshi."

The location of this Ryukyu Kingdom was to the northeast of Yizhou.

It was a collection of islands scattered across the sea, like a string of pearls extending to Dongying.

In the modern era, this location is called Okinawa.

According to the history of this world, the commoners on Ryukyu Island were those from the Central Plains who had migrated there to escape the chaos of war.

After over a thousand years of reproduction, the population of the Ryukyu Kingdom was nearly one million.

The attire of the commoners on the island was slightly different from that of the Central Plains dynasties,

but they were largely the same.

Moreover, their customs and habits were also similar to those of the Central Plains.

Since its founding over four hundred years ago, the Ryukyu Kingdom had paid tribute to the Central Plains dynasties every year, voluntarily becoming a vassal state.

Until thirty years ago, Dongying invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom.

The Ryukyu Kingdom was naturally no match for Dongying; after their defeat, the King of Ryukyu and his son Shang Bin fled to Jinling, begging Great Song to send troops to retake Ryukyu.

But at that time, Great Song was already overwhelmed by the rise of the Northern Di and had no power to attend to Ryukyu.

This matter was then shelved.

By the time Zhao Heng ascended the throne and the Ningjin Dusi fell into the hands of the Northern Di, Great Song was even less interested in helping restore the Ryukyu Kingdom.

They repeatedly refused to meet with Shang Bin.

But Shang Bin was very persistent, often kneeling before the Imperial Palace gate for long periods without rising.

Yet even so, it was of no avail.

"Your Highness the Yan Wang is truly wise and righteous. My Ryukyu has been occupied by Dongying for thirty years, and I have sought the restoration of my country in vain. I only hope Your Highness will pity the people of Ryukyu and bestow a little great grace." Shang Bin's eyes turned red again.

Having been in Great Song for over thirty years, this was the first time he had heard someone say that Great Song had failed Ryukyu.

Although he had not dared to say it all these years, he had held this sentence in for a long time.

What is a vassal state? They viewed Great Song as their suzerain, taking a portion of their tax revenue every year to pay tribute to Great Song.

What they sought was for the suzerain state to extend a helping hand in times of crisis.

Yet he had begged in Great Song for a full thirty years, and today, someone was finally willing to acknowledge this.

"Heir Shang, there is no need to be sad. It was not that Great Song was unwilling to help Ryukyu before, but that Great Song lacked the strength. If it were earlier, I would not have dared to promise rashly. Only now that the Northern Di have retreated north have I finally freed up my hands," Zhao Xu said.

Pausing, he continued, "Since the Emperor has handed this matter to me, I will promise you that I will help you restore the Ryukyu Kingdom."

"Really?" Shang Bin was overjoyed and stood up from his chair with a start.

Zhao Xu gave Shang Bin an affirmative look, "However, do not be impatient; we must wait a few more months."

Dongying's behavior of stirring up trouble in Great Song had ignited extreme anger within his heart.

He would absolutely not allow the history of the modern era to repeat itself in this world.

According to the memories in his mind, in the modern era, a Han Chinese state also existed in the location of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

And it had always been a vassal state of the Great Qing.

But after being occupied by the Wa state, the Wa state forced this Han Chinese state to use the Wa calendar and stop paying tribute to the Great Qing.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the Wa state formally incorporated it into its territory; this is the Okinawa of today.

"I have already waited thirty years, so how could I care about a few months?" Shang Bin trembled with excitement, "As long as Your Highness can help me restore the Ryukyu Kingdom, Ryukyu is willing to submit and pay tribute to Your Highness for generations to come."

From Zhao Heng's attitude, he could see that this Emperor of Great Song had no authority at all in Yanzhou.

The one who truly called the shots was this Yan Wang.

Otherwise, when Zhao Heng said such things in the past, he would only have thought it was a dismissal.

Now that Zhao Heng said it, he had come running.

"Since that is the case, Heir Shang only needs to wait in peace in Yancheng," Zhao Xu nodded lightly.

Shang Bin replied in the affirmative; with the Yan Wang's guarantee, there was no need to say more.

He bowed to Zhao Xu and turned to leave.

After Shang Bin's figure disappeared, Zhao Xu looked to the right side of the Great Song map; it was a world map he had drawn.

On the map, the Ryukyu Kingdom was like a chain.

Connecting with Dongying and Yizhou, this chain extended from Gaoli all the way to the location of Yizhou, covering almost the entire length of Great Song's maritime territory.

In the modern era, a certain country used these island chains to create the string of pearls strategy.

Now that he has happened upon this magnificent era of Bolan, he naturally will not allow the Eastern Japanese to swallow up these islands.

"It is September now; by the end of the year, the twenty-four warships from the Shipbuilding Department will be launched, and by then, the Black Shark Sea Bandits will be able to run rampant in the seas of the Great Song," Zhao Xu muttered.

He did not immediately agree to Shang Bin precisely because he was considering this factor.

The Eastern Japanese are very cunning; this time, they even pulled the Franks into their trade dealings with the Han Family.

According to the news sent back by Zhou Yi, the warships of their Black Shark Fleet have already crossed paths with the warships of the Franks.

Zhou Yi also specifically mentioned that he was holding a Telescope and saw a commander on the opposing Frankish warship also holding a Telescope and staring back at him.

Besides the Franks, the intelligence given to him by Tianxiang Lou last time mentioned a conversation between two Eastern Japanese.

The Eastern Japanese have been constantly proclaiming his threat to the various countries of the Western Lands.

Therefore, aside from the Franks, he cannot guarantee whether other warships from the Western Lands will participate in trade in the future.

But clearly, the only way to solve this problem is to build ships.

Moreover, after this batch of warships is launched, he will stop the construction of Sailing Warships and instead have Chen Shou research and build steam-powered sailing warships, as well as small Steam Merchant Ships and the like.

Time waits for no one.

The Eastern Japanese's dazzling maneuvers this time clearly show they want to act as the vicious dogs of the Western Lands, tearing at the Great Song in Dongtu.

They even want to use this to gain further trust from the countries of the Western Lands and obtain all sorts of benefits.

Facing the increasingly insane Eastern Japanese, he can only have his own fleet break the legs of the Eastern Japanese.

Let them suffer the same fate as Gaoli.

And just one month later, this stance of his became even more firm.

Because right beside the sleeping mat of Yanzhou, a Qi appeared.