Chapter 87 of 100

Chapter 87

14 min read3,552 words

In the Ryukyu Kingdom, although the royal family and the people held Han culture in extremely high regard, and the number of Han people in the Ryukyu Kingdom was also very large, they ultimately lost to the Shimazu family in the Keichō Ryukyu Campaign. From then on, they began a two-hundred-year period of Japanese colonial rule. During these two hundred years, Japanese culture and customs gradually influenced the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Look at the city built along the mountain slopes, where Japanese-style hot springs, inns, and bustling taverns are everywhere. Samurai and merchants wearing wooden clogs parade through the streets, holding geishas with white-painted faces. The sound of the sanshin and Japanese songs intertwine in the taverns, creating a unique atmosphere.

Xiaole Tian's group was so large that no single inn could accommodate them. With Liang Kun's prior arrangements, four inns on the street were fully booked. Among them, Xiaole Tian stayed at the famous 'Sakura-no-yado' in Naha, which not only had two hundred-year-old cherry blossom trees but also a natural hot spring with a faint sulfur smell.

"Take a bath, take a bath... I'm full of the smell of seawater, and I won't have an appetite for dinner if I don't clean up..." Xiaole Tian couldn't move his feet when he saw the hot spring. The storm yesterday had drenched him in seawater, and the smell of sea salt still lingered.

What Xiaole Tian liked most about Japanese culture was their bathing customs. With a clear blue sky above and carefully crafted stone platforms around, the warm hot spring water enveloped his body, providing a sensation that words could hardly describe.

Just as Xiaole Tian was relaxing with his eyes closed, a timid girl's voice came from behind him, "Sir, this is the sake you asked for, please enjoy it slowly..." Xiaole Tian, hearing the strange-sounding Chinese, turned around to see a girl in a kimono kneeling behind him, her face flushed.

"Thank you..." Before Xiaole Tian could finish his thanks, he was stunned to see the girl start to undress. The kimono, tied with a sash, revealed her completely naked body when she untied it.

Xiaole Tian suddenly remembered that in ancient Japan, the maids in inns not only worked but also had to sell their bodies. The lives of the lower classes were extremely hard, and Japan lacked the feudal etiquette of China, so buying pleasure was not considered sinful.

The girl, naked, slipped into the water and began to scrub Xiaole Tian's back with a loofah. Her technique was clearly well-practiced, and she massaged him as she scrubbed, making Xiaole Tian almost moan with pleasure.

"What's your name? How old are you? Where are you from?" Xiaole Tian asked casually while lying on the stone platform with his eyes closed.

"My name is Chikaha. I come from the distant Shikoku, and I came here with my father who was in business... Unfortunately, my father never returned after one of his voyages, and I have been living here with my younger brother ever since."

Chikaha was an eighteen-year-old girl. The hardships of life had numbed her, and when she mentioned her father and her mother who had died of illness, her tone was devoid of any sadness, as if she were calmly recounting someone else's story.

The young girl rubbed Xiaole Tian's skin, and it was clear that Chikaha was experienced. She knew how to make a man more comfortable. Just as she was about to help wash his sensitive areas, Xiaole Tian suddenly stood up from the water.

"Alright, help me get dressed, I'm hungry..." Chikaha was surprised. She knew Xiaole Tian's body had reacted, but why was this Chinese man restraining himself? Was it because she wasn't pretty enough? Or did he not have money?

Xiaole Tian quickly made her even more confused. When she knelt in the water and held two shiny silver coins in her hands, the girl's eyes welled up with tears.

"Arigato... Thank you, thank you..." The naked girl knelt in the water, tears streaming down her face. She had never seen such a generous guest who gave her so much without taking her body.

Xiaole Tian smiled at her, turned, and walked back into the inn. He was well aware of how poor pre-Meiji Restoration Japan was. It was a country with a rigid class system, where all the wealth was concentrated in the hands of the samurai, and even the Emperor sometimes needed the support of the samurai.

In the lower classes of Japan, farmers, who were heavily exploited, might not even be able to eat the rice they grew after paying taxes. They would exchange the remaining rice for coarse grains, and even then, they might not have enough to eat.

For girls from poor families, their fate was even more tragic. They had to work hard from a young age, and once they were old enough, many were sold. The lucky ones might marry, while the unfortunate ones were sold to brothels.

Girls like Chikaha, who worked in inns, didn't earn much. The owner provided them with food, lodging, and daily clothes, and they might earn a few coins after a year of work. When Chikaha sold her body, she only received a small amount of copper coins. She was happiest when wealthy sea merchants gave her a few hundred coins.

If the guests were Japanese or local Ryukyuans, she was very pitiful. She could only endure receiving a few dozen copper coins. What? You think she could refuse? Don't even think about it. If Chikaha dared to refuse a guest, the innkeeper would kick her out immediately.

Today, Xiaole Tian generously gave her two silver coins. Each of these beautifully crafted foreign silver coins was worth at least a thousand copper coins, and Chikaha was overjoyed.

Xiaole Tian left Chikaha and returned to his room, where lunch was already served. The others had already started eating, but Xiaole Tian's portion remained untouched.

"Clear sake, tempura, Japanese tofu, miso soup, sashimi..." The dishes were beautifully arranged but in very small portions, looking both elegant and somewhat petty.

Xiaole Tian, now recovered from the fatigue of the journey, ate while discussing the next plan with Shi Dakai and the others. Xiang Shaolong and his band of Green Forest experts were scattered around the inn, vigilantly guarding the surroundings.

"Advisor, I have already secretly contacted the Ryukyu royal family. They said the Japanese are watching very closely, making it difficult to meet King Shōtai alone. However, the envoy said that Shōtai will be going on a hunting trip the day after tomorrow, and the royal family will try their best to create an opportunity for a private meeting."

Shi Dakai had already visited Ryukyu once and had a secret connection with King Shōtai, which was no secret. Japanese spies had been closely monitoring him.

Xiaole Tian, holding a cup of sake, pondered for a moment. "Tell me about the current situation with the Japanese. How many troops do they have, and who is the commander?"

At this point, Liang Kun interjected, "The Ryukyu Kingdom is still under the control of the Shimazu family of the Satsuma Domain, and it is not directly controlled by the Japanese shogunate. The Shimazu family's control here is covert, and they also claim that Ryukyu is an independent kingdom."

Liang Kun, though rough in appearance, was a capable military leader with a keen understanding of Ryukyu's history.

The Ryukyu Kingdom had always considered itself a vassal state of China, and even the Ryukyu kings had aspirations to be part of China. However, due to the Ming and Qing dynasties' neglect of the seas, their actual control did not extend to the Ryukyu Islands, and their influence was mainly cultural.

In 1609, during the fourth year of the Keichō era in Japan and the Wanli era in the Ming dynasty, the Shimazu family of Kyushu sent Kusunoki Takahiro to lead three thousand soldiers to invade Ryukyu and incorporate it into their territory.

Strangely, the Shimazu family did not abolish the Ryukyu king. Instead, they secretly controlled the Ryukyu Kingdom from behind the scenes. The officials sent by the Shimazu family had to be reappointed by the Ryukyu king to exercise their functions. The Shimazu family did not interfere with the Ryukyu king's diplomatic activities with the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Was the Shimazu family incapable of annexing Ryukyu? The answer is no. During the Sengoku period, the Shimazu family almost unified all of Kyushu. If not for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's massive army, Japanese history might have taken a different turn.

By this point, Xiaole Tian understood. Liang Kun's words overlapped with some historical records from his previous life, confirming the Shimazu family's historical conspiracy.

The root of everything was trade. Due to the Ming and Qing dynasties' isolationist policies, trade was highly distorted and conducted in the form of tribute. The Ming and Qing dynasties strictly controlled trade between their vassal states, and foreign countries could only trade legally at specified times and places with the approval of the Ming and Qing courts.

Thus, the right to issue trade permits was crucial for the small neighboring countries. More frequent trade with the mainland naturally meant greater national strength.

The Shimazu family kept the Ryukyu royal family in place to exploit the Ryukyu Kingdom's trade rights for their own benefit. In real history, during the Tokugawa shogunate's isolationist period, the Shimazu family secretly traded with the Ming dynasty, accumulating substantial wealth over a hundred years.

In some historical records from Xiaole Tian's previous life, it was noted that the Satsuma Domain became a leading force in the anti-shogunate movement before the Meiji Restoration because of the wealth they had accumulated over two hundred years, which provided them with a strong backing.

To put it bluntly, without the selfless support of the Satsuma Domain, the Tokugawa shogunate would not have been so easily overthrown, and the Meiji Restoration would not have been so smooth.

"The current head of the Shimazu family's administration in Ryukyu is a senior retainer named Kusunoki Kurigen, a descendant of Kusunoki Takahiro, who invaded Ryukyu. His top general is named Yamamoto Kiyoshi, known as a spear expert. The top civil official is named Takeuchi Inoue, who is well-versed in Han studies and foreign languages."

"As for the ruffian we saw at the dock, Eitarō, he is just a local thug who extorts protection money from the good people. He is not a threat."

Just as Liang Kun was explaining the internal affairs of the Ryukyu Kingdom to Xiaole Tian, a loud shout from Xiang Shaolong came from outside the inn, "Where did you come from, little thief, to show off in front of me..." followed by the sound of metal clashing.

Xiaole Tian's generals all drew their weapons and formed a protective circle around him.

"Don't make such a fuss, let's go out and see what's happening..."

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