Chapter nine hundred and eighty fourth annexation, that is only incidental
On this day, among the various farewell poems that appeared on the Jinling Pier, one word appeared in many poems at the same time, and that was "Wanli".
This term also fully reflects the pessimistic attitude of the many talented and beautiful people who came to see off. They believed that once these officials went to Ryukyu, they would never come back in this life. How pitiful!
It’s as miserable as it gets!
Without the word "Wanli", it simply cannot fully express their feelings of regret.
Among the crowd, Shi Huo boarded the navy transport ship with his two followers with normal expressions. Although he was desperate inside, on the surface, he maintained his position as a scholar and as a Tang official.
Some decent.
With a smile on his face, he held onto the railing and waved gently to greet his friends who were bidding farewell.
In private, he fainted and even cursed loudly. In the past few days, the thief God has been scolded by him at least dozens of times, and those bastard officials in the Literary Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel have been scolded by him.
He has cursed hundreds of times, but it is fine to do these things in private, but not in public.
Even if he thinks that his trip to Ryukyu will be thousands of miles away and whether he can come back alive depends on God's face, he still needs to maintain his dignity.
As a scholar, this demeanor should never be lost.
However, although there are still people with normal faces like Shi Huo, and there are many, not all of them have such good psychological quality. When many people get on the boat, they are supported by others. There is no way.
Those legs are too weak to walk!
Of course, the officials who were able to appear here today, although they were desperate and full of fear and did not want to get on the ship, in the end they all got on the ship obediently.
As for those who are unwilling to go, of course there are some, but the officials have already dealt with them. If you don't want to go, it doesn't matter. Just keep your official hat and you can get out.
These days, there is no shortage of people to serve as officials. If you don’t want to go, there will be a lot of people waiting in line behind you!
Therefore, those who are able to appear on this pier today are those who have carefully considered and carefully considered it over and over again. Between throwing away their official hat and becoming an official in Ryukyu, they chose to continue to be an official in Ryukyu.
After all, although going to Ryukyu is risky, you won't die if you go there. Even if you go to serve as an official in that damn place like Dajuan Mansion, the casualty rate for officials is still very, very low. At most, the conditions are a little more difficult and difficult.
What's more, in order to appease these officials who go to Ryukyu, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has already guaranteed these officials who go to Ryukyu to serve for three years. After three years, you will be transferred back and you will be promoted after you return!
Otherwise, although they can be forced to work in Ryukyu, it is not good to have too much opposition. We always have to give them a little hope, isn't it?
After Shi Huo and the others boarded the ship, they sailed eastward along the Yangtze River and then arrived at the Shanghai Port. After resting for a few days in the Shanghai Port, the group of civil servants transferred to a merchant ship belonging to the Datang Dongyang Trading Company, a subsidiary of the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises.
, together with the Navy's two frigates, four patrol ships, three supply ships, and 1,500 soldiers from the Army on many transport ships, rushed to Ryukyu.
The establishment of a government in Ryukyu is not only a big deal for cabinet agencies such as the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but also a big deal for the navy and army!
The establishment of a government in Ryukyu will establish complete administrative agencies at all levels. At the same time, the Army has decided to dispatch two infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, a baggage battalion and other troops to the Ryukyu Islands, with a total strength of approximately 1,500
At that time, people will be stationed on Ryukyu Island, Amami Island and other major islands respectively, and the focus of the garrison will naturally be Ryukyu Island and Amami Island, the two larger islands!
The army garrison of 1,500 people was all transferred from the Sixth Army, but now it has an independent establishment and is called the Ryukyu Garrison. Although the size of the force is 1,500 people, it is still
Dispersed garrison, calling it a regiment is a bit exaggerated, but Ryukyu is special, so it is also treated specially.
The leader of the regiment will be an army officer with the rank of colonel!
In addition to the army, there is naturally a navy. As for the navy, it will not station the main fleet on the Ryukyu Islands for a long time. The main fleet of the navy has many heavy tasks, so although there will be a main fleet patrolling there, it will not
It falls under the jurisdiction of Ryukyu.
The Navy will set up a Ryukyu Squadron in the Ryukyu Islands. The main task of this squadron is to patrol and protect the safety of the Ryukyu Islands and the safety of this section of the sea route.
It is expected to have one new 450-ton frigate, which will be used as the flagship of the squadron, four new 180-ton patrol ships, which will serve as the main force for patrol escort, and several other small ships.
However, in order to ensure the strategic security of Ryukyu Prefecture and avoid any unrest, the Navy will station a Marine Corps battalion of about 500 troops here in the short term, or in the next few years.
During the year, the main fleet of at least one cruiser and several frigates will be maintained in the Ryukyu Islands for a long time to carry out patrols and strategic deterrence.
One year later, the main fleet will be arranged for irregular garrison and patrol according to the situation!
The one responsible for this task is naturally the Fourth Squadron, which is mainly responsible for the security of the East China Sea, especially the maritime security from Ryukyu to Japan. Currently, the Datang Navy has many main squadrons, which are mainly deployed in two directions. One is the South China Sea, which is
Used to deal with threats from foreigners such as Portugal and Spain.
The other one is deployed in the direction of the East China Sea, mainly used to control and defend the Jiangnan coast.
However, there are also several squadrons that are out for a long time. For example, the Fourth Squadron has been based on the Ryukyu Islands for a long time. It conducts patrols, escorts, and combats pirates in this sea area.
The Fifth Squadron also has the same mission. This squadron is mainly stationed in Lianzhou Prefecture, and its patrol range extends deep into the sea areas along the Annan coast, all the way to Malacca.
These two squadrons are actually the main squadrons of the Tang Dynasty Navy that patrol the outer seas, carry out force deterrence and escort. Although the other squadrons are not weak, they still patrol the coastline of the Tang Dynasty.
, to guard the safety of one's own coastline, and usually do not take the initiative to attack.
Only when it comes to the decisive battle with the main force, the Tang Navy will mobilize various squadrons to fight together. On weekdays, each squadron is the core for daily patrols.
The army dispatched 1,500 people, and the navy directly stationed a Ryukyu squadron and a marine battalion. This shows that the military attaches great importance to Ryukyu!
In other words, this is not the importance that the military attaches to Ryukyu, but the importance that the entire Tang Dynasty attaches to Ryukyu. Why? Because this place is an important transit point for the maritime trade between the Tang Dynasty and Japan.
Otherwise, do you think that the Tang Dynasty navy was so full that it landed on the Ryukyu Islands and captured the Ryukyu King? It was not for profit!
In recent years, merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty have begun to frequently travel on the sea route from China to Japan. Many ships going to Japan, especially merchant ships departing from ports in southern provinces, basically pass through the Ryukyu Kingdom.
When traveling, you had to pay taxes when you docked at the port, and sometimes you even did business directly with Ryukyu merchants.
This back and forth went on for a long time, and then when these maritime merchants calculated their accounts, they were surprised. I actually paid so much money to the Ryukyu Kingdom every year, and the business was not very efficient. After all, I was doing business in a foreign country.
Of course it’s not very convenient!
However, the attitude of the maritime merchants is not actually the key. What really prompted the Tang Dynasty to send troops to the Ryukyu Kingdom were the pirates!
After the severe crackdowns by the Tang Dynasty Navy in recent years, the coastal areas of Datang have been gradually cleaned up. At present, there are very few large-scale pirate gangs in the coastal waters of Datang, although there are still some small-scale pirate gangs hiding in hiding.
They are active in some coastal waters, but they are basically no longer able to pose much threat to the coast of Datang and passing merchant ships.
But there were more than tens of millions of pirates in the coastal areas before. It is not that they were all killed by the Tang Dynasty Navy. The pirates that were annihilated by the Datang Navy were actually only a very small number.
So where did all these pirates go?
Most of them have switched careers to become maritime merchants!
The merchants currently engaged in maritime trade in major ports are actually pirates who have changed their profession. In other words, they have not changed their profession. They just put away their guns along the coast of the Tang Dynasty, and then entered various places in a well-behaved manner.
Port trade, but after leaving the coast of Datang, they basically returned to their true colors.
And you still have no way to tell whether they are merchants or pirates!
Maritime merchants or pirates these days actually have the same moral character. The ships are all armed merchant ships, and all of them go to sea with guns and cannons. When merchant ships fight with each other, only the devil knows whether they have personal grudges or want.
Robbing property.
Even though the Datang Navy severely cracked down on this situation, the Datang Navy was not omnipotent.
Those pirates or merchants would naturally not engage in stupid fights in the waters patrolled by the Tang Dynasty Navy, but when they reached the distant seas, they would let themselves go, because the Tang Navy had no control over the distant seas.
This leads to the fact that all merchant ships sailing across the ocean will carry guns and cannons. Even if you are not planning to rob others, you still have to guard against others robbing you!
Even the three maritime trading companies under the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises of the Tang Dynasty, such as the Datang Dongyang Trading Company, which specializes in running routes to Japan, and the Datang Nanyang Trading Company, which specializes in running Nanyang routes, all have armed merchant ships.
In the early years, the young crew members were still pirates.
Not to mention the Datang Western Company, which has a monopoly on European trade and can legally organize corporate armies. They even have cruisers.
In the past, many pirates along the coast of the Tang Dynasty were transformed into legitimate merchants or sailors of the Tang Dynasty.
However, some pirates still ran to other sea areas and continued to do their old business. It would be faster to do business than just robbing them!
A large number of pirates who escaped from the coast of the Tang Dynasty are now basically active in the South China Sea, Ryukyu waters and the coast of Japan. Even the Portuguese are suffering from this headache.
Against this background, in order to maintain Japan's shipping routes and combat pirates in the Ryukyu waters, this was the direct reason why the Tang Dynasty sent troops to the Ryukyu Kingdom. As for accidentally annexing the Ryukyu Kingdom, to be honest, it is not that
I haven't thought about it, but actually it's just incidental.