Zhao Hao's main purpose in taking over Ryukyu was to establish a military base.

During the Age of Discovery, the strength of nations was determined, firstly, by who had stronger ships and more powerful guns; secondly, by who had more and more complete overseas military bases.

Whether it is the current Portugal and Spain, or the United Kingdom and the Netherlands that are about to replace them, they all attach great importance to the construction of naval bases and logistical facilities such as medical and catering.

Especially the later Great Britain, every time they conquered a region, they would carefully select a location and build a naval base at great expense. The base must have a dry dock to ensure that wooden warships can be regularly docked overseas for repairs. There must also be a military warehouse and ammunition depot to replenish the lost supplies and ammunition in time. Hospitals are also indispensable so that the wounded and sick can be treated.

In the core base, there will also be an ordnance factory to produce and repair guns for the region, and a sanatorium for tired sailors to rest.

In addition, they would build food processing plants to process large quantities of animals and grain into bacon, hard bread, and beer, and send them to large warehouses to provide supplies for the fleet at any time.

This is not because the Great Ying Empire has a humanitarian spirit and loves its soldiers like its own children. How can pirate slave owners be humanitarian? They actually regard sailors as consumables. But even if they are consumables, if they don’t have enough food, don’t have enough rest, and have no place to release their stress, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

Other countries did not think as carefully as Da Ying, which may be an important reason why Da Ying finally won the Age of Discovery.

Young Master Zhao was crossing the river by feeling his way, so he naturally regarded the construction of the naval base as a top priority.

Ryukyu is the most suitable place for a military base. Four hundred years later, the United States turned the entire Ryukyu Islands into an unsinkable aircraft carrier...

Even at this time, with Ryukyu's obedience, prosperity and geographical location, it is the best choice as a rear base when the Coast Guard fleet goes south to fight.

Further south, it would be difficult to find such a safe, prosperous and inconspicuous port to provide logistical support for a huge fleet.

Taiwan is not eye-catching, but it has nothing and can only be a forward base at best.

As for Chaozhou, it certainly has better conditions, but to anchor such a huge fleet under the nose of the imperial court, are they trying to die?

So Ryukyu is the most suitable.

~~

Looking at the map, there are three parallel rivers flowing into the sea west of Shuri Castle.

The southernmost one is the Naha River, also called the Anzhi River. It is the largest and widest river. The Naha Port that people usually refer to is here.

But in Zhongshan Kingdom, people actually called it Naha Wharf.

The river in the middle is called Anli River, and there is also a pier at the mouth of the sea called Bobutou.

The northernmost river is called Anxie River, which also has a pier at the mouth of the river, called Anxie Wharf.

These three ports together make up the Naha Port in a broad sense.

The Naha River and the Asato River are less than four miles apart, and the Asato River and the Anshe River are only four miles apart. At such a close distance, there are three docks with overlapping functions. This is obviously not because the port is too busy.

In fact, the seven-mile long north shore wharf at Naha Pier alone is enough for the entire Ryukyu Islands, and even the south shore is not used. Normally speaking, why would we need to open two more wharves? It would waste manpower and material resources, increase management difficulties, and be detrimental to the formation of a port economy.

When Zhao Hao raised his question to the Zheng father and son, Zheng Zhaozuo told him with a wry smile, wasn't it because those Ryukyu princes were jealous?

The Kume clan controlled the commercial taxation of Naha Port, and their income was always rolling in. Since they could not interfere, they encouraged the king to open another port on the Asato River, nominally to serve the royal family, but in fact they just wanted to get a piece of the pie.

As for Anxie Pier, it was even worse. The pro-Japanese faction could not resist the temptation to trade with Japan, so they persuaded the King of Zhongshan to agree to open another pier in Anxie River in the north so that they could trade with Japanese ships alone.

Of the three wharves, Naha Wharf is naturally the best. But if it is chosen, it will seriously affect the trade and economy of Ryukyu. Tomari Wharf and Anxie Wharf are too small and cannot bear the responsibility of being the main commercial port.

Moreover, the Naha River was crowded with ships, so it was a big safety hazard for the fleet to stay there. If the enemy took advantage of the favorable wind and set the ships on fire, the fleet would suffer a great loss.

So after much deliberation, Zhao Hao decided to place the base at the farthest Anxie Wharf, so that security work would be much simpler. And keeping a distance from the bustling Naha Port was also necessary for maintaining military discipline.

You have to know that in this kind of international port where merchants, sailors and pirates gather, gambling, entertainment and other industries are extremely developed. Otherwise, Mr. Zhao would not have repeatedly issued orders that gambling is not allowed and that people must wear small umbrellas made of sausage casings when visiting brothels.

However, Anxie Wharf is a long-term plan. The current mission to go south is imminent. The fleet cannot wait for the infrastructure reconstruction there to be completed, so it can only anchor at Naha South Wharf to repair ships and replenish supplies temporarily.

~~

After the military parade, the Ryukyu prince invited the distinguished guests from the Celestial Empire to Shuri Castle for a grand welcome banquet.

Hearing that the prince would naturally not attend such a worldly occasion, he returned to the palace in a sedan chair.

Back in the back hall, Zhu waited on the prince to remove his makeup, take off the pearls and jade on his head, and take off his heavy dress, revealing his slender waist and thin shoulders.

Mei Nan was wearing a white gauze midi and silently shed tears in front of the mirror.

"Your Majesty..." The women were about to persuade him.

"You all go out." She waved her hand and said, "I want to be alone."

"Yes." The ladies had no choice but to leave one after another. Lin Feng also wanted to follow them out and sort out her gains.

"Ah Feng, I didn't say anything about you." Mei Nan stopped her.

Lin Feng had no choice but to turn back and sit cross-legged on the chaise longue nearby. She picked up a piece of fruit and started to chew it, while rubbing her sore calf with the other hand. She was exhausted after standing in the hot sun for a whole morning...

"Excuse me, angel of God, what do you think about what happened today?" Menan was so sad that he couldn't continue to be sad. He wiped his tears and asked in a hoarse voice.

"Shocking, so shocking. I didn't expect that Mr. Zhao is so strong!" Lin Feng praised frankly, and then said with high morale: "I admit that I used to be a frog in a well. But now I know there are always people better than you, and I have found the direction to work hard! Given time, I will definitely catch up with him! And then let him call me daddy!"

Seeing that she was still immersed in the military review, the prince said helplessly: "I mean my Ryukyu Kingdom... Can my brother come back?"

"Hey, so you're crying over such a small matter." Lin Feng waved his hand heartlessly and said, "I advise you not to worry about the king who went to Daming for medical treatment, but to be on guard against your seventh brother!"

"Shang Jong-hyun, what happened to him?" The prince's heart tightened when he heard this.

"Don't you think he's being too aggressive?" Lin Feng sneered, lying on the couch in a frivolous manner, "No one gets up early without benefit. He is already the third person in Ryukyu after King Shang Yuan and you. What else can make him so impatient?"

"..." She also noticed it after hearing the great king. After a moment of silence, she said with some difficulty: "Of course the throne has changed. But the king is still alive!"

"A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Ryukyu, although small, cannot be without a ruler for a day." Lin Feng said calmly: "Believe it or not, he will come to discuss this matter with you soon."

"That won't do! Even if the king doesn't come back, he still has three sons!" Mei Nanfang was confused and said, "As their aunt, how can I push them into the fire pit?"

Although Ryukyu was small, the political struggle was even more brutal than that of the Ming Dynasty. Every change of the throne was accompanied by purges and killings. If Shang Zongxian came to power, he would definitely not keep the offspring of the Grand King.

The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. Tears could not stop flowing down her cheeks. She knelt down in front of Lin Feng and said, "God's messenger, what do you think I should do?"

"Don't you want to exercise the power to depose and enthrone Prince Wende?" Lin Feng licked the beauty mole at the corner of her mouth with her scarlet tongue.

The sadder others are, the more excited Douaisi becomes.

Menan shook his head like a rattle. "I lost my father when I was young, and the king has always been very kind to me. It is not an exaggeration to say that an elder brother is like a father. I cannot let him down."

She covered her face in embarrassment and cried, "But what if he never comes back? My three nephews are still minors."

"How should I know what to do?" Lin Feng said helplessly, "I'm not a real god."

"But you have the magic bag given by the goddess!" Menan reminded her.

"Oh, by the way, how could I forget about this?" Lin Feng slapped his head.

Under Mei Nan's guidance, she pretended to wash her hands and burn incense, and then recited a mantra. Then she casually picked up a brocade bag on the incense table.

After opening it with a rustle, she took out a piece of paper and handed it to Menan.

Mei Nan took it and looked at it. It was still the familiar font, crooked... Oh no, four ancient and mysterious words - 'The best policy is to run away'!

"Running away is the best option?" Mei Nan's eyes widened as he looked at the four words again and again and asked, "What does this mean?"

"Don't you understand?" Lin Feng rolled his eyes and said, "Among the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best one. I mean, I want you to hide away too!"

"I am the Lord Wende, and I cannot leave..." Mei Nan said hurriedly, but then she was at a loss for words. If she stayed here, it would not solve the problem at all, but would instead encourage the ambition of her seventh brother.

If I suddenly disappeared, my seventh brother would not be able to covet the throne. No one can be the king without the approval of the great king in the name of the Lord's Hand!

"But he can use my death as an excuse to choose another Lord Wende." Menan thought of a possibility and said.

"What if you leave with a legitimate reason and everyone knows you are still alive?" Menan asked.

"Then there's no hope for him." Mei Nan thought for a moment, then said worriedly, "But if I'm not here, what about my nephew's safety?"

"This is your legitimate reason." Lin Feng smiled slyly, "Take your nephew to visit the king, who dares to stop you?"

"The tribute delegation has always been under the full charge of Zheng Qinfang. Since he is in collusion with my seventh brother, he will never let me on board. The Han people are good at speaking and have many reasons to stop me. Not to mention that I am bringing my nephew with me." Mei Nan said dejectedly.

"Stupid, who said we were looking for the tribute group?" Lin Feng patted her head and said, "There are more powerful fleets in Naha Port than the tribute group. We can go to Ming Dynasty without a document!"

"Are you talking about the devil named Zhao?" Mei Nan shuddered when she heard that, and said with a pale face, "Could it be that the goddess wants me to feed the tiger with my own body?"