"Our country ordered us to pay tribute, but now our country …" King Ryukyu looked embarrassed.
Liu Sha smiled impatiently and said, "Just bring some gifts. You don't have to pay tribute to Japan every year anymore. Just bring some sugar."
Such a forthright attitude scared King Ryukyu to the point of being unbearably frightened. Paying tribute to Japan was a big deal, and bringing sugar was an insult. The fact that the Liberation Army dared to arrange the tribute in this way made King Ryukyu wonder if the soldiers in front of him were playing tricks.
Of course, King Ryukyu thought too much. According to the style of the Liberation Army, after receiving the order for King Ryukyu to go to Nanjing, Liu Sha didn't directly tie him up and put him on the ship in the face of King Ryukyu's refusal, which was enough to show that he was a very patient person. Everyone in the army knew that Vézé wasn't particular and had no interest in gifts. As long as King Ryukyu was willing to leave immediately, it wouldn't be a problem for Liu Sha to buy gifts out of his own pocket.
"Please let our country discuss it again," King Ryukyu said while trembling.
King Ryukyu discussed countermeasures with his small court, and the fleet was also in a meeting. Liu Sha said angrily, "Is this guy so shameless? Do we have to beg him?"
"I guess he's afraid." Political Commissar Huo Zhichong put forward his opinion. "He's afraid that we won't be able to defend Ryukyu after he leaves."
This was the view of a soldier. If King Ryukyu knew the worries of the Liberation Army, he would probably vomit blood. In fact, just by looking at the large number of thousand-ton, three-thousand-ton, and six-thousand-ton ships, how could King Ryukyu not know that the Chinese Navy had the ability to crush Japan's Satsuma Domain?
Because he had enough understanding of the strength of the Chinese Navy, King Ryukyu, who had been bullied by Satsuma Domain for so many years, had to consider the possibility of his country being taken away by the Chinese Navy.
Although the majority of the Liberation Army soldiers were straightforward, there were still diplomatic talents after training. Foreign Minister Zuo Zhidan invited the British Ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for lunch. The British Ambassador arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at nine o 'clock in the morning. Just when he guessed that the Liberation Army was preparing to go north to deal with Manchu Qing, he received completely different news.
"We may have a conflict with Japan because of the Ryukyu issue in the near future," Zuo Zhidan said.
Regardless of whether the British Ambassador understood the situation in Ryukyu or not, Zuo Zhidan first gave the British Minister a document introducing the situation in Ryukyu and then began to introduce it.
Ryukyu had always been a vassal state of China, but it was far away and didn't have any decent products. Therefore, China did not care much about Ryukyu. More than 200 years after the Ming Dynasty conferred the title of Ryukyu, Japan took a fancy to the Ryukyu Kingdom. In the year 169, the Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi led his army to invade Korea. He sent the Satsuma Domain's Shimazu clan to extort money from Ryukyu, but was rejected by the Ryukyu King. The Shimazu Clan then led an army to attack Ryukyu and captured the Ryukyu King, Shang Ning. They forced him to write an oath that he would supply the Satsuma Domain with 80 thousand stones of grain every year.
Japan regards its historical invasion as a "tribute" to prove that Ryukyu has always been a "vassal" of Japan. From then on, Ryukyu entered a period of "one country, two subordinates". In the beginning, Japan had always asked Ryukyu to hide the fact that it paid tribute to Japan from China. Later on, due to the decline of the Qing Dynasty, they had no time to take care of themselves. Although they knew about it, they did not "ask" about it. However, they never officially recognized Ryukyu as a vassal state of Japan.
The Liberation Army's attitude was very clear. Ryukyu and the islands in the "nearby waters" were naturally China's traditional territory since ancient times. When it came to "clarifying" the issue of China's territory, China hoped that the British would not "mistakenly enter the war zone" and cause unnecessary conflict.
The British really did not expect the Liberation Army to extend its hand far away before it was unified. The British Minister pretended to look at the document, but in his heart, he was calculating the interests of the British.
"Then once Ryukyu is controlled by the Chinese government …" The British Minister said.
Zuo Zhidan immediately corrected him, "Not controlled. Ryukyu was originally a vassal state of the Chinese, and has been a part of China since ancient times."
The Chinese Min dynasty was temporarily called the Chinese dynasty. Now that it was not completely unified, Vézé was too lazy to carefully study the name of the country. Moreover, it was beyond the abilities of his comrades to expect his four pillars and eight pillars to come up with a genteel thing. Vézé had suppressed the old literati so much that it was impossible for him to let them participate in such an important matter.
Of course, the British side knew that China had been the hegemon of the Far East for thousands of years. Since Zuo Zhidan said it so firmly, the British Ambassador no longer insisted on his statement. "If the Chinese government regains full control of Ryukyu, will Ryukyu be governed by Chinese laws?"
Zuo Zhidan replied, "In terms of foreign trade, the Chinese government will adhere to the laws we signed with the British. Whether it is anchoring or trading, it will be completely consistent with the current policy. "
This time, the British Ambassador was relieved. As long as the Liberation Army continued to carry out foreign policy, the British had nothing to fear. Of course, the old diplomatic foxes would not be so stupid as to really listen to this and be done with it. The British consensus continued to ask, "If China and Japan go to war, what is your country planning to achieve?"
Zuo Zhidan said aloud, "As far as we know, a Japanese prefectural magistrate called the Satsuma Domain started this operation. So we can't think that the entire Japanese government is trying to implement a policy of annexing Ryukyu. So we will discuss it with the Satsuma Domain first. Of course, if the Satsuma Domain insists on invading China's vassal state, we will go to war with the Satsuma Domain. If the entire Japanese government must join the Satsuma Domain's side, then we will go to war with the entire Japanese government. There is no room for discussion of national sovereignty. "
"If your country wins the war …" the British Ambassador asked.
"If we win, we don't mind sharing the privileges we obtain with your country." Zuo Zhidan smiled. "Of course, we believe that your government will definitely stand on the side of justice."
Of course, the British would stand on the side of justice. The winning side was justice, and the British had no doubt about it. The strong determination of the Liberation Army to fight, as well as the rise of the Liberation Army Navy that the British had seen with their own eyes, made the British Ambassador roughly guess who was on the side of justice between China and Japan.
"Of course, our government hopes for peace. Since you are also prepared to make advanced diplomatic negotiations, I hope that you can inform us of any new developments in time." The British Minister expressed his attitude.
Zuo Zhidan smiled and said, "Of course."
After sending the British Ambassador away, Zuo Zhidan cursed in her heart. What the hell is this! The conflict between the Liberation Army and the United Kingdom ended less than ten years ago, and now the two countries began to discuss the situation in the Far East like brothers. Zuo Zhidan never felt that the British had any qualifications to get involved in the situation in the Far East. It was just that the Liberation Army didn't have the ability to drive the British out of the Far East for the time being.
After the discussion ended, it was noon and everyone had lunch together. The British Minister praised the delicious food and rum of China and invited Zuo Zhidan to eat at the British Embassy when she was free. Zuo Zhidan also politely agreed. But when she thought of the authentic British food in the British Embassy, Zuo Zhidan lost her appetite.
The afternoon was naturally to discuss with the French Minister. At this time, the American Civil War was still at its most brutal end, so Zuo Zhidan didn't tell the Americans. Although the Southern US government purchased a large number of liberation shoes and medicine from China, they were still facing failure. The good days of selling war supplies to both sides at the same time might be over, which made Zuo Zhidan feel a little regretful.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia was someone that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't want to provoke. As a member of the Politburo, Zuo Zhidan was very clear about Vézé's intentions. There was bound to be a territorial war between China and Russia in the future. Russia would definitely know this news, but let them play with it themselves. In the future war, there was a high possibility that Japan and Russia would collude together.
After the diplomatic task was completed, Zuo Zhidan went to report to Vézé. Vézé was very satisfied with Zuo Zhidan's performance. Zuo Zhidan asked, "So who are we sending to Japan to negotiate?"
"Of course, we will send the Navy to negotiate with Japan," Vézé replied.
"The Navy?" Zuo Zhidan was a little surprised.
Vézé was not surprised and replied, "It's the Navy. For Japan, cannons are the words they can understand the most. If the cannons can't be negotiated, then the diplomats can't be negotiated. After the cannons are negotiated, the rest will come naturally. "
The Navy was very excited about the order, half happy, and half uneasy. It was naturally the best thing to send heavy ships and cannons to the battlefield. However, when the navy was established, everyone was well aware of the fleet's weaknesses. To put it bluntly, the Navy was very worried about whether these warships with shortcomings could persist on the journey at sea.
From the data, the 40-60 mm iron armor, 51,000 tons of displacement, the coexistence of sails and steam power, and the newly equipped breech-loading steel cannon on the ship. This kind of power amplifier weapon was a monster equipment that the Navy didn't even dare to think of 10 years ago. However, this kind of ship had too many problems when fighting in the coastal waters. Some small coastal ironclads had capsized when encountering typhoons.
Now the fleet was not fighting in the coastal waters. Before fighting with Japan, the fleet must first conquer thousands of miles of waves and dock in Ryukyu. From Ryukyu all the way to southern Japan. Ryukyu doesn't have a maintenance factory at all. If there is a problem with the warship, there is a possibility that no one can help them. The Navy knew their own situation, and they were not unconditionally optimistic about this expedition.
But Vézé gave the order, and the Navy didn't have any intention to refuse. Twelve large ships, including the repair and supply ship, formed the First Fleet that took the lead. Among them were two 550-ton ironclad warships, three 300-ton ironclad warships, and three 190-ton light ironclad warships.
In addition to the transport ships of the first fleet, twelve 50 tons cargo ships of the second fleet were responsible for transporting coal from the Hongji Coal Mine to Taiwan, and then from Taiwan to Ryukyu.
If they hadn't found the Sulfur Islands recently, they would have at least pulled back hundreds of tons of sulfur. The Navy themselves questioned why they would pay such a huge price for a place like Ryukyu that has no output.
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