Chapter 1680 Rent the Island for 10 Years

In any case, Gan Fu Shuizi is the only blood of Gan Fu's clan in Kuanliang City. Although there is no tradition in Japan for women to inherit daimyo, the son of the only daughter of the head of the family can also be the heir if he is willing to change his surname.

According to Japanese customs, if a prince has no children, he can choose a younger generation from the side branch of the family as an adopted son to train him as an heir. Or, choose a blood relative from your grandson or nephew, change it to your own surname, and use the name of your adopted son as the heir.

For example, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had no children in his early years (two sons died early), so he adopted the two sons Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Toyotomi Hidekatsu of his sister Ruilongin as adopted sons and potential heirs.

However, a nephew is a nephew after all. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi had his own son, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, in order to clear the obstacles for his own son, he killed Toyotomi Hideji, who was originally scheduled to be the heir.

But Gan Fu Shuizi's side is different, his father has been killed by the master's family, and she is the only offspring left, and she didn't have time to adopt a son. Therefore, as long as she is willing to change her son's surname to Gan Fu, she is eligible to be the heir of the Gan Fu family in Chuanliang City.

Of course, only qualified. But what will happen in the end, we have to fight a battle with Gan Fu's master who has already captured Chuanliang City. Whoever wins will own Kuanliang Castle...

But Marin obviously has more ambitions than this. His plan is to directly kill Gan Fu Jianjiu of Gan Fu's family, and let his son Gan Fu Nobunaga directly become the leader of the entire Gan Fu family. Even, capture the entire Osumi country...

But the food had to be eaten bite by bite, and the 3,500 soldiers and horses led by the chess pieces were only the vanguard, and it was impossible to attack Kuanliang City, Ganfu County, Dasumi Country all at once. The situation on Kyushu Island can be described as very complicated. Dive in head first, with this army mostly recruits, it's hard to get good deals, so it's better to attack Sado Island which is relatively less difficult first.

What's more, there are Sado Gold Mountain and Crane Silver Mountain on Sado Island. As long as it is developed, the profit will drop greatly...

As for this Amami Oshima, it does not belong to Kagoshima Prefecture at present, but belongs to the northern border of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

In later generations, this large island of more than 700 square kilometers has a population of more than 70,000. But in this era, the island's population was only a few hundred people.

As for why? One is because most of the island is hilly and the terrain is not flat enough to be suitable for large-scale development. In addition, as the northern border of the Ryukyu Kingdom, because it is too close to Kyushu Island, it is often harassed by down-and-out samurai (that is, Japanese pirates) who failed in the struggle on Kyushu Island.

Under such circumstances, the big island, which was originally more suitable for development, became less suitable for human habitation due to the chaotic situation. After all, if the Japanese pirates come, the local residents will be out of luck.

Even the Ryukyu Kingdom itself is too lazy to send people to manage it. After all, Japanese pirates are very powerful in fighting. The soldiers and horses of the Ryukyu Kingdom have to guard the capital of the island. Where can they find the soldiers and horses to guard the "border land" here?

And the Shimadzu clan on Kyushu Island, which is very close to the north, has not freed up to invade here for the time being. Because, at present, whether it is the Shimadzu family of Satsuma country or the Ganfu family of Osumi country, they are all caught in internal strife. They have no time to take care of overseas. Only when the internal fighting is over and the winner is decided, can they have the energy to invade overseas.

Historically, after the Shimadzu family and the Ganfu family ended their internal fighting respectively, the two families fought a big battle. As a result, the Shimadzu clan won and became the overlord of southern Kyushu Island. Then, in the 17th century, the Shimadzu family secretly controlled the Ryukyu Kingdom...

But now, neither the Shimadzu clan nor the Ganfu clan are able to manage affairs outside the mainland, and the military strength of the Ryukyu Kingdom is relatively weak. Therefore, Amami Oshima is now a place where no one cares about it.

After discussing with Kong Tai, the chess piece fell in love with this "land of alienation". Because it is not far from Osumi country, and it is much closer to Sado Island than to Tai Island.

In addition, the troops stationed here may be attacked by wandering samurai (that is, Japanese pirates) from Japan at any time. Coincidentally, the chess piece intends to train those wandering warriors. After these 3,500 soldiers have adapted to the fighting style of the samurai,

Plus the previous diplomatic means on Sado Island. Once the time is right, the main force here can move to Sado Island and develop the gold and silver mountains there...

Of course, in order to avoid irritating the Ryukyu Kingdom, Kong Tai sent someone to send a large number of glass products to the Ryukyu King Shangzhen as a "rent" and planned to "lease" Amami Oshima for 10 years.

Kong Tai was not afraid of the mere Ryukyu Kingdom, but he was afraid that the Ryukyu people would go to the Ming Dynasty to sue, saying that Kong Tai had invaded Ryukyu. That would be miserable. Once the Ming court canceled the North Sea country's trading qualifications as it did with Portugal, Marin would also be depressed.

Therefore, in order to avoid trouble, Kong Tai sent a large number of glass products that are worthless in Europe but very valuable in East Asia to Ryukyu King Shangzhen, and explained the identity of Gan Fu Nobunaga, and asked to "lease" Amami Oshima for 10 years.

Shang really was unable to manage this northern island that was often harassed by Japanese pirates, so he simply agreed to Kong Tai's request for a lease. Then, the two parties signed a lease agreement, stipulating that after 10 years, the soldiers and horses of the chess pieces must withdraw from Amami Oshima. Otherwise, the Ryukyu people would go to the Ming Dynasty to sue... and the rent paid by Kong Tai was just a few large boxes of glass products worth hundreds of gold coins in Europe...

But Shangzhen did not suffer a loss, because although these glass products were not valuable in Europe, they were very valuable in East Asia where glass was scarce. Whether it is sold to Daming or Japan, it can be exchanged for a lot of money. Among them, the value is estimated to exceed tens of thousands of taels of silver.

In other words, the rent on Amami Oshima is equivalent to more than one thousand taels of silver per year. For an island with a population of only a few hundred, it is considered against the heavens to receive a tax of tens of taels of silver a year. Therefore, Ryukyu King Shangzhen did not lose out in this wave.

After the two parties completed the lease agreement, Qizi began to arrange manpower to build a city on the island. Of course, what she built was a military city, which was mainly used to prevent Japanese pirates from attacking. Of the 3,500 people under her command, only the 100 musketeers sent from the mainland of Beihai have fought in war, and the others are all freshmen with little war experience. If it is attacked by Japanese samurai at night, it is easy to bomb the camp. Therefore, building a military city can fully guarantee safety and avoid being attacked by the enemy at night.

In order to support the chess pieces to build a military city on Amami Oshima, Kong Tai ordered 10 warships to transport a lot of bricks and cement from Tai Island to Amami Oshima to support the chess pieces to build the military city.

The bricks were fired on the island itself. Kong Tai’s subordinates had already discovered the Keelung coal mine, so burning bricks should not be too simple. Moreover, Marin also sent reliable craftsmen to build a cement kiln near Keelung, which specializes in burning cement with limestone and clay. After all, the cost of transporting cement from the Americas is too high, so it is better to burn it on the spot.

But out of technical secrecy, the shaft kiln for burning cement is in a relatively hidden place. Moreover, there are military guards to prevent people from approaching.

With bricks and cement, it would be easy for Qizi and her men to build a small military city on Amami Oshima Island that can accommodate thousands of soldiers. After all, walls are built with bricks and cemented. After finishing the work, put cement on the outside, don't be too easy.

Moreover, this small military city does not need to defend against shelling (the Japanese pirates do not have artillery anyway), so it is easier to repair. As long as it can prevent the pirates from climbing the wall, that's enough...

On the main island of Ryukyu, King Shangzhen of Ryukyu was both worried and happy when he heard that the chess piece was building a military city. He is worried that the army of chess pieces will not leave in the future, but he is happy that if the soldiers and horses of chess pieces withdraw as promised in 10 years, then he will have a military city that can defend against Japanese pirates for nothing...