Chapter 91

Xiao Letian has a musket squad under his command, and the muskets they carry are strange and unknown to everyone, capable of firing a hail of bullets in an instant. This terrifying news spread quickly through Naha Port as if it had wings.

When Hua Shan Ligen learned of this news, he was shocked speechless for a whole fifteen minutes. This renowned general of the Shimazu family, who had long been stationed in Ryukyu, could not think of what kind of musket it could be, despite his extensive knowledge of Western firearms.

"Dead Ice Three? Repeating musket? What is this thing..." Although Hua Shan Ligen had a look of bewilderment on his face, he was very clear in his heart that this weapon must be extremely terrifying.

In stark contrast to Hua Shan Ligen's fear was the King of Ryukyu, Shang Tai, who was now just a young man in his twenties, full of passion and fervor. His heart was filled with admiration for the civilization of the mainland and hatred for the Shimazu family. Over two hundred years of exploitation by the Shimazu family had left the Shang Dynasty unable to even maintain a decent navy, a truly absurd situation for an island nation.

Shang Tai wanted to resist, but having been educated as a king from a young age, he also knew the terror of the Shimazu family's rule over the past two hundred years. Although they did not dare to harm the Shang royal family, they would kill any pro-Chinese minister who was exposed. Now, almost no minister dared to publicly declare themselves as pro-Chinese.

Two hundred and fifty years of suppression had instilled deep fear in the hearts of the Ryukyu royal family towards the Shimazu family. They had hoped many times for the mainland government to come to their aid, but all their hopes ended in vain.

Historically, in 1609, after the Shimazu family invaded Ryukyu, Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty had once ordered troops from Zhejiang to rescue Ryukyu, but a terrifying typhoon thwarted this rescue. Subsequently, the mainland discovered that the Shimazu family had not destroyed the Ryukyu ancestral temple, and the Ryukyu Kingdom still legally existed, which made the central empire's face much better. Thus, the expedition was abandoned.

This was the only unsuccessful rescue attempt by the mainland civilization and the last hope of the Ryukyu Kingdom. After that, the Shang Dynasty never received any good news from the mainland. For the Ming and Qing dynasties, the superficial respect of the Ryukyu Kingdom's tribute was more important than who actually controlled the islands.

Everything changed in 1865, the fourth year of the Tongzhi era, when a man in his thirties from the Qing Dynasty approached King Shang Tai under the pretext of presenting a treasure. A long-awaited piece of good news suddenly fell on King Shang Tai's head.

Shang Tai still remembers the moment when he heard the Chinese man's whispered words, and the precious Song dynasty white porcelain cup in his hand fell and shattered.

"The great scholar of the Qing Dynasty, Mr. Xiao Letian, is about to visit Ryukyu, and a small army will accompany him. I hope His Majesty can seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity..."

The joy King Shang Tai felt upon hearing this news was indescribable. Although he was just a puppet of the Shimazu family, his admiration for the civilization of the mainland was heartfelt. The envoys of Ryukyu stationed in the Board of Colonial Affairs in Beijing always sent back all the information about the mainland, and "Journey to the West" had become an indispensable classic on his desk.

Now, his idol, the great scholar Mr. Xiao, was coming to Ryukyu, and he was bringing a small army with him. How could King Shang Tai not be overjoyed?

Even greater joy was yet to come. When Shi Dakai revealed that Xiao Letian wanted to serve as an official in the Ryukyu Kingdom, Shang Tai's joy led him to shatter a large Qianlong famille-rose plate, causing the surrounding attendants to turn pale with concern.

In Xiao Letian's plan, Ryukyu was the most important link. As long as the Ryukyu King gave him a sufficiently high status, Xiao Letian would quickly become the Cao Cao of the Ryukyu court. Xiao Letian intended to establish a trade transshipment port in Ryukyu, use the power of the Han Chinese and the indigenous people to train a navy, and have his own marine corps.

Xiao Letian had never thought of rebelling to become an emperor or establishing a democratic republic to become a president or a leader. From the beginning, he did not want to provoke a civil war in China and did not want to have innocent blood on his hands.

However, Xiao Letian's kindness was not naivety. His goodwill towards the entire nation did not mean he would be merciful to his enemies. If anyone dared to provoke him, he would not hesitate to exterminate their entire family and dig up their ancestors' graves. Therefore, a powerful military force was essential.

At first, Shi Dakai was a bit hesitant. In his mind, Xiao Letian's plan was already a great act of treason, and the Ryukyu King, even if he were a fool, would not agree. However, when the Prince of the Wings saw the miserable state of the Ryukyu King under the Shimazu family's exploitation, he understood that for King Shang Tai, being exploited by Xiao Letian was already a cause for celebration.

Japanese historical records show that before the Meiji Restoration, the Shimazu family had a monetary reserve of 2.5 million silver taels, making them the wealthiest daimyo after the Tokugawa family. Moreover, the Shimazu family was the first in Japan to independently replicate ironclad ships, and the modern industrialization of the Satsuma domain was always at the forefront in Japan.

All of this required money, and the money came from over two hundred years of exploitation of Ryukyu and smuggling under the Tokugawa shogunate's maritime ban. Under the Shimazu family's secret control, the annual trade of the Ryukyu Kingdom was actually dominated by Shimazu family goods, and two-thirds of the local taxes of the Ryukyu Kingdom were taken away. The entire Shang royal family could be said to be living in poverty despite their wealth, even to the point of secretly borrowing money from the Shimazu family to make ends meet.

Now, Xiao Letian gave King Shang Tai a glimmer of hope, to be saved by the civilized and principled Chinese from the mainland, which was already the collective dream of the Ryukyu people.

Seeing the large plumes of smoke rising from the Japanese settlement, King Shang Tai was moved to tears. "There is hope for the revival of the Ryukyu Kingdom, there is hope for the revival of the Ryukyu Kingdom..."

At this moment, Xiao Letian could guess that his every move would be closely watched by the Japanese and the Ryukyu royal family, but he had no time to ponder the thoughts of Hua Shan Ligen and King Shang Tai. He was now in a crucial secret meeting with Mike.

"Mike, can you really buy the design plans for the Spencer rifle? Can you really get the production authorization?"

"Oh, Mr. Xiao, please stop torturing my wrist. Although the Spencer rifle has excellent performance, the company in America has always been in poor financial condition, almost on the brink of bankruptcy. What's the difficulty in buying it with money?"

The thirty Spencer rifles were a gift from the goddess of fortune to Xiao Letian. As soon as he landed on the dock this morning, Mike temporarily left Xiao Letian and went to Naha to contact his countrymen. He wanted to give Xiao Letian a gift, and when he saw the primitive muskets carried by Xiao Letian's men, he made up his mind.

At this time, in Tanggu Port, a clipper ship named the "Enterprise" was undergoing repairs. This was the merchant ship that Mike took from America to Naha. The captain of the "Enterprise" had a close personal relationship with Mike's family, so Mike knew that in the lower cargo hold of the "Enterprise," there was a batch of smuggled prohibited weapons.

The Spencer rifle, which sold for about 40 dollars each in the United States, had an average cost of 16 taels each.

Originally, the captain of the "Enterprise" wanted to secretly smuggle the rifles to the remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army. Such foreign guns would not sell for less than 200 taels each. However, after Mike's persistent persuasion, Xiao Letian managed to get all forty Spencer rifles at a "friendship price" of 160 taels each.

The 6,400 taels was just the price of the rifles; the remaining 600 taels of silver were for the ammunition. The captain originally insisted on 7,500 taels, but thanks to Xiao Letian's bargaining skills and his order for another 200 Spencer rifles, they finally settled on 7,000 taels.

Xiao Letian, caressing the famous rifle of the American Civil War, thought to himself, "Technology is the primary productive force, technology is the biggest gold mine. A cost of 16 taels can be sold for ten times the price across the Pacific, but you have to buy it, because the Qing Dynasty doesn't have this capability..."

Unexpectedly, just as Xiao Letian and his men were returning to their lodging with the muskets, they unexpectedly discovered a conflict in the casino. The cunning Xiao Letian had an idea and led the musket squad to intervene.

This musket volley was not just about righting a wrong; it had a more important purpose in Xiao Letian's mind. Naha Port was not large, and a volley from thirty muskets would certainly shock the entire port. This would be a huge deterrent to the Japanese, who were still more backward than the Qing Dynasty and had not yet developed the arrogant attitude after the First Sino-Japanese War.

Additionally, it was to boost the morale of King Shang Tai. Xiao Letian knew that after two hundred years of suppression, the Shimazu family's control over the Ryukyu government was like an iron bucket. The court was almost entirely pro-Japanese, and even the few pro-Chinese factions were carefully hidden, only surfacing in dire circumstances.

The sound of the Spencer rifles was like a stick stirring up the muck. The already murky situation in Ryukyu, when stirred by Xiao Letian, brought all the stench to the surface. Various factions began to make their own calculations, especially the fence-sitters, who started to conspire and analyze the future situation.

Xiao Letian was a master at profiting from chaos, but this chaos was not the result of a rash decision. It was a well-ordered chaos after meticulous analysis.

Why was Xiao Letian so brazen in Naha? Was he really not afraid of the Japanese? In fact, he was worried. The Japanese had a significant presence in Naha, and if the three or four thousand armed forces really went all out, even with a few cannons, Xiao Letian would not have a chance of winning.

However, Xiao Letian was certain that the Shimazu family would not dare to act. It was a critical moment for the Japanese anti-shogunate movement, which began to become increasingly violent this year. The opposition to the shogunate was growing stronger. Next year, the Satsuma and Choshu domains would form a military alliance.

By the following year, 1867, the young Emperor Meiji would formally ascend the throne, marking the beginning of a new era.

"Shimazu, Shimazu, this is a critical moment. Are you really willing to worsen relations with the Qing Dynasty for Ryukyu? To deal with me, a small figure like Xiao Letian, you would have to divert forces from the anti-shogunate movement? Ha, I want to see how you Japanese will respond to my moves..."