On the East China Sea in the first month of the year, several large ships with thousands of materials were moving slowly, with their sails half open.
And in the low sky, suddenly a group of seagulls flew past quickly, chirping lowly.
"No, this is a storm coming——"
Suddenly, the wind howled, huge waves surged into the sky, and the black cloud was like a huge city, crushing straight from the sky, accompanied by lightning from time to time, which made people tremble.
The several ships fighting against the waves were like a few leaves in front of the sea, constantly being tossed by the waves, as if they were about to be turned upside down. Let's see how many barnacles and clams there are on the bottom of the ship.
Fortunately, this group of people was experienced, and fortunately it was winter and the wind and waves were not strong, so a few boats were able to ride out the waves safely.
"call--"
Zhang Huangyan, the newly appointed governor of Ryukyu, was panting and holding on to the deck. The rope around his waist was tightly bound, almost suffocating him.
"Master Fu, are you okay?"
At this time, Shenyu Dahai came over. He also had a rope tied around his waist, and his expression was not much better.
"It's okay." Zhang Huangyan vomited while facing the sea. After a moment, he regained his breath and said, "It's true that the sea is very difficult."
"This is not like inside the mountains. Although there are more ferocious beasts and venomous snakes, there is still a way to escape. At sea, you can only wait for death."
Yu Dahai shook his head, his face full of helplessness.
He was a subordinate of Zeng Ying. As Zeng Ying defected to the then King of Yu, he also climbed up the ranks and reached his current position as a general, not far from the commander-in-chief.
As for the title, it also reached count.
For this matter, he followed Zhang Huangyan to the Ryukyu Mansion. Although it was a bit unworthy, it was quite appropriate in terms of power.
Because the Ryukyu Prefecture is different, not only are there many islands, they need infantry to maintain them, but they also need to be controlled by the navy.
Therefore, as a general, he had both the navy and infantry in his hands, so he could be regarded as standing alone.
However, Yu Dahai glanced at Zhang Huangyan and continued to appease the sailors and officials without changing his expression. He couldn't help but feel some admiration in his heart.
Even though he was exiled to Ryukyu, he still dealt with it so calmly. He was worthy of being the man who once supported King Guolu and oversaw the country.
Yes, although being promoted from prefect to prefect is a promotion, it also depends on where you are promoted, and it is obvious that Ryukyu Prefecture is a place of exile.
All civil and military officials in the imperial court recognized that the previous exile to Hainan was far inferior to the exile to Ryukyu.
Without him, Leizhou Peninsula Strait is peaceful, just like inland rivers, but Ryukyu is different. In the wide East China Sea, if you are not careful, a wave can kill you.
Definitely the best way out for political prisoners.
Zhang Huangyan didn't know it. After appeasing everyone, he came to Yu Dahai and said: "According to the sailors, we can reach Ryukyu in half a day's journey."
"That's good." Yu Dahai breathed a sigh of relief, but he would not let go of the rope in his hand.
On the deck that was shaking from side to side, only this thing could give him a sense of safety.
"General Yu——"
"The end is here!"
"When you enter Ryukyu this time, I will say it again, don't leave with the thought of just eating and waiting to die."
Zhang Huangyan stared at him seriously: "It's not a place to retire."
"This..." Yu Dahai was helpless. He emphasized this sentence several times along the way. He could only nod and said casually: "I understand that there are Japanese pirates and pirates. We must be prepared for danger in times of peace."
"not enough!"
Zhang Huangyan shook his head and looked at the endless sea and the sun that vaguely revealed half of his face, his face full of determination:
"Train troops and take the initiative to suppress bandits."
"In this way you can achieve military success, and the sea people will be willing to settle in Ryukyu."
In fact, when he first learned that he was coming to Ryukyu Prefecture, Zhang Huangyan was somewhat reluctant.
Ryukyu can only be attached to the country for half a year. There are only three counties in one prefecture, and there are ten thousand households, which is not as good as one county in Zhejiang. Moreover, it also has to support thousands of naval troops and thousands of soldiers. It can be said that there are many difficulties.
But there was no way, the governor talked to him personally:
The imperial court decided to upgrade Ryukyu Mansion from the fourth rank to the third rank starting from the sixth year of Shaowu.
There are three types of mansions in the Ming Dynasty, namely military and civilian mansions, Yuyi mansions and ordinary mansions. The first two are chieftains, while ordinary mansions are normal.
Among all the mansions in the world, the most outstanding ones are Yingtian Mansion and Shuntian Mansion. They were originally ranked third grade, but were later upgraded to full third grade, which is two steps higher.
And if the Ryukyu Mansion reaches the third level, he will jump from the fifth level to the third level, and the temptation is huge.
At first, he asked eagerly, who above him took such good care of him?
The governor smiled calmly and pointed to the sky.
It suddenly dawned on him that he was in the Emperor's heart!
However, he thought to himself along the way that it was probably not just the Ryukyu Prefecture that was of the third rank, but also the other remote prefectures in various places.
The poorer the place, the more high-quality goods are needed to win over civil servants.
On the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month, after more than ten days of boating, the group finally arrived at Shuri Castle in Ryukyu Prefecture.
Ryukyu Prefecture has three counties in total, Shannan, Shanbei and Shanzhong, which are the old names of the three small kingdoms of Ryukyu in ancient times.
Before he took office, three magistrates had arrived long ago. These were the lucky ones (unlucky ones) specially selected by the Fujian governor, thus establishing a preliminary order.
After a welcome banquet, Zhang Huangyan discovered something ridiculous. Three counties and one prefecture were all crowded into Shuri City to work, and each had their own yamen.
After asking, I learned that it turned out that it was a lack of money that caused the trouble.
"Ryukyu Prefecture is a barren place with not much flat land, and we have to support the army and officials. If the feudal lord (chief envoy) hadn't sent us money and food every month, we would have starved to death."
To sum up, the garrison, plus the passing sailors, had too many people, so there was not enough food to eat, and the fish caught were too many and too cheap, so they couldn't sell them for the price and couldn't collect taxes.
The biggest difficulties are insufficient food and insufficient household registration.
Zhang Huangyan squinted his eyes but said nothing.
For several days, the new prefect just wandered around Ryukyu. If he wasn't careful while riding his horse, he could end up in the sea.
Three days later, Zhang Huangyan announced something:
"Any ship carrying hundreds of tons of grain from Japan or the mainland is exempt from tax."
This time, it immediately caused a stir in Shuri Castle.
Although there is no customs in Ryukyu Prefecture, due to its geographical location, all ships going north and south must come here for supplies, so there will naturally be parking taxes, transit taxes, etc.
This is also an important financial source for Ryukyu Prefecture.
The sailors and captains were naturally delighted and delighted.
Because for sea voyages, ballast stones are necessary, and if the ballast stones are changed into grain, although it takes up some volume, it can still be enough for several ships to be put together.
There is a loss, but not much.
But compared with taxes, it's nothing.
The three magistrates had to come together and ask the magistrate for an explanation.
Zhang Huang's words were true, and he said bluntly: "Even if we can collect money, can we use the money to buy food?"