For Wu Ning, the past six months have been absolutely terrible; he has experienced great joy and sorrow and gone through a lot of things.
More than 20 years ago, the Zhongshan Kingdom, to which he belonged, was only competing with the northern and southern parts of the mountain. The three kingdoms of Beishan, Zhongshan, and Nanshan began to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, use the Ming Dynasty's reign title, and become vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.
However, at that time, it was often just a formality, and there didn't seem to be any major problems.
The Ming Dynasty's first intervention in Ryukyu occurred when the Southern and Central Kings of Ryukyu joined forces against the Northern King of Ryukyu, engaging in mutual warfare. The Hongwu Emperor ordered all three kingdoms to cease hostilities and allow the people to rest, and they complied by jointly sending envoys to the Ming court to pay tribute.
However, that was almost twenty years ago. Ten years ago, Ryukyu also received support from the Ming Dynasty and acquired shipbuilding and navigation craftsmen from thirty-six families in Fujian.
However, seven years ago, King Chadu of the Zhongshan Kingdom passed away, and Wu Ning naturally succeeded to the throne. This was nothing unusual; it was the usual procedure in the Ryukyu Zhongshan Kingdom.
However, Wu Ning did not expect that his self-appointment would cause such chaos. His succession was not wrong, after all, a country cannot be without a ruler for a day. His mistake was that after ascending the throne, he did not immediately come to court to report the death, did not immediately inform the Ming Dynasty of the situation, and even more so, did not request a title from the Ming Dynasty.
Since the three Ryukyu Kingdoms decided to establish a tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty more than 20 years ago, it meant that they needed to accept investiture from the Ming Dynasty.
There's definitely no problem with his succession, and the Ming Dynasty certainly won't make things difficult for Wu Ning on these matters. Even though the Ming Dynasty is the suzerain state, it wouldn't interfere in the affairs of its vassal states; this is absolutely clear.
However, since a tributary relationship had been established, certain matters needed to be clarified, and rituals and etiquette had to be formalized. Wu Ning's biggest mistake was to directly ascend the throne and declare himself king instead of waiting for investiture from the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yunying would not allow such a thing, nor would the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty, because what Wu Ning did was practically treating the previous tributary relationship as a blank sheet of paper.
This bad precedent must not be set, because it not only concerns the State of Zhongshan, but also the other vassal states. If this matter is not handled properly, other larger vassal states may follow suit, which would be a terrible thing.
Therefore, when the envoys of the Ming Dynasty arrived in the Ryukyu Kingdom of Chuzan, they were accompanied not only by the imperial edict of the Ming Dynasty emperor, but also by the Ming Dynasty's naval warships.
The Gene Era
Even though he was trembling with fear, and even though he felt incredibly aggrieved, facing the Ming Dynasty's navy, Wu Ning had no choice but to board the Ming Dynasty's warship amidst the worries and other concerns of many people. He needed to go to the court in person.
It wasn't just about requesting investiture; it was also about demonstrating one's stance. In reality, it meant going to court to apologize, a point that many people were well aware of.
After meeting the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Ning could only kneel and bow in humiliation, but it seemed that there was nothing wrong with that.
The reason is that although he is the ruler of Zhongshan, this is only in theory. In reality, he has already ascended the throne, which seems to be a fait accompli, and no one denies it. However, legally, he has not yet received official recognition from the Ming Dynasty, which means that he is only the nominal crown prince of Zhongshan.
There was nothing he could do then; he could only obediently bow. In fact, after arriving in the Ming Dynasty, Wu Ning became increasingly aware of the gap between the Zhongshan Kingdom, and even Ryukyu, and the Ming Dynasty. These gaps made him realize that he could not show the slightest disrespect to the Ming Dynasty.
To destroy the Zhongshan Kingdom, the Ming Dynasty wouldn't need to exert much effort, or even just a garrison or a military command. After all, even the small Ryukyu Kingdom had three kingdoms, so it was nothing to worry about.
Moreover, in Wu Ning's view, ironware, which was commonplace among ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, was an absolute luxury in Ryukyu. This made it even more difficult for him to understand why the Ming Dynasty emperors had always treated ironware as a strictly restricted trade commodity.
The gap between Ryukyu and the Ming Dynasty was simply too great. Ryukyu, lacking everything, was like a newborn infant compared to a giant in front of the Ming Dynasty.
For Wu Ning, bowing to the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty was not shameful, especially since the Crown Prince did not deliberately make things difficult for him and still gave him some face.
Although it might seem awkward for an adult to bow and fawn over a child, when you consider your own position and the status of the person opposite you, many things become natural and logical, and there's no need to feel guilty about bowing.
This is quite normal. Not to mention now in the Ming Dynasty, even back in the Zhongshan Kingdom, Wu Ning often had older people bow to him. Everything was so natural; the difference in status was enough.
Wu Ning now only hopes that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty can be as benevolent as the Crown Prince, so that he can return to Ryukyu as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows if his Zhongshan Kingdom will experience some internal turmoil?
What's more, there are two wicked neighbors, Beishan and Nanshan, eyeing them covetously. They might just be thinking of kicking them while they're down, or taking advantage of their vulnerability.
Even if the Ming Dynasty was prosperous, it wasn't their own country. Moreover, even though everyone believed they weren't in mortal danger, there was no guarantee they wouldn't be placed under house arrest, which wasn't a comfortable situation at all. It was nothing like the freedom of Ryukyu.
“Great-grandfather, the ruler of Zhongshan is like a savage.” Little Zhu said with great excitement, “He’s the ruler, yet he’s barely clothed. If we hadn’t given him clothes, he would probably have gone to worship naked.”
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