C451 The student soldier was moving. (1/2)

Those who have never experienced war do not know how precious peace is. In just two short years, Ryukyu Kingdom encountered two armed disasters, and each one of them was something that was rarely seen in the history of Ryukyu.

In the hundreds of years of history of the Ryukyu Kingdom, only the earliest Ming Dynasty, when the three mountains were unified, had fought against each other viciously. Then, the Japanese Shimadzu Family began to colonize the Ryukyu for hundreds of years.

It was only until Xiao Letian left the island that night that the citizens of the Ryukyu knew about the cruelty of the land war, and today that they also knew about the craziness of the sea war. When had the citizens of these small countries, who were guarding the barren islands ever seen such a miserable scene?

The continuous bombardment by the French for five days had pushed the mood of the people of Ryukyu to the brink of collapse. The sudden news of the peace talks was like a soothing spring breeze that blew at people's hearts.

It had only been a night and the entire Ryukyu had already spread the news of the negotiation. The crowd, amidst their unease and full of hope, had spent a sleepless night, and this rare night was just wasted like that.

What Gong Cheng said was true. When the water dog brought back the news of it agreeing to negotiate, the French Fleet made a ceasefire and the Deterrence Bomb which was in the middle of the night finally stopped. Molière used his actions to show his sincerity to the Liuzhu Military and Civilians.

All the way until the morning on the second day, Jin Changsen and the other civil servants who were waiting for Gong Cheng on the beach below Seven Stars Mountain were filled with hope for the success of the negotiation. Furthermore, they could see from the eyes of the commoners that they were all praying for peace.

”Brother Lin, now do you know the great wish in the hearts of the citizens of Ryukyu? For the past few hundred years, all we Ryukyu have wanted is to live. The dream of claiming the title of king has nothing to do with us, we will eventually wake up from this dream! ”

Lin Yuanmiao looked at him, sighed, and said, ”National destiny is to retreat if we don't advance, sometimes it's not what we want to do, but what our enemies are forcing us to do …”

”Ai …” Forget it, what's the use of saying all this now? It's already on the verge of burning down. Let's look at the scene in front of us first! ”

Lin Yuanmiao and Cai Mao could be considered to be the elite in the Ryukyu. They were among the first to surrender to Xiao Letian, and they were extremely zealous towards Xiao Letian's various ideas of governance. Today, he was forced into a corner by the enemy. Otherwise, he would never have betrayed the prime minister and chosen to negotiate with the French.

”Jin, just you wait. When the prime minister returns, we'll settle our scores …” Lin Yuanmiao secretly cursed in his heart.

”Pfft, you guys are the surrender parties of Ryukyu, and more so, surrender like stupid dogs. You don't even know how to find a hug as thick as a person's thigh …” Jin Changsen was also cursing in his heart, but the expressions on their faces were still as harmonious as ever.

A short while later, the imperial guards on guard on the beach suddenly shouted, ”Coming! Look, it's really coming!” Everyone took a look and saw that it was a small boat rapidly approaching the shore.

The one rowing the boat was the water dog. Every time he moved the oar, the boat would move forward by a huge margin like an arrow. Gong Cheng who was riding on the boat was as stable as a horse carriage.

Very quickly, the imperial guards who were standing in the ocean waves received Emissary Gong Cheng. The important officials of the Ryukyu who were waiting on the beach all bowed and paid their respects, ”Mr Gong, thank you for your hard work. Please serve us some tea on the shore!”

Gong Cheng returned the greeting smilingly. This old man had done his homework in advance, he could even call out a few names to each official.

”This is the Minister of Rites, Master Jin?” This is the Minister of Revenue, Master Lin? ”This is …” The old man bowed to the ministers one by one. His expression was as formal as it could be and as respectful as it could be.

”There's no need to serve tea, there's plenty of good tea in China. Let's get down to proper business first!” Where is His Majesty? Foreign ministers has to kowtow to His Majesty no matter what … … Aiyah, is that white on top of Seven Stars Mountain's cannon emplacement? Mighty, truly mighty! ”

The old man raised his head, and saw that halfway up the mountain, there was a cliff with a greyish white, reinforced concrete building standing on top of it. The black muzzles of the cannons were facing the battleships on the sea, looking extremely murderous.

It was not that Gong Cheng had never seen shore defense cannons before, but those built inside Great Qing were all primitive designs, to the point that many of the cannons couldn't turn their muzzles. What he saw today was the latest gun emplacement designed by the American engineers. The cannon was completely wrapped inside, revealing only a horizontal slit facing the sea for the cannon to move freely.

After five days of fighting, the reinforced concrete buildings were riddled with holes. Taking advantage of the temporary truce, countless workers were accelerated as they repaired the buildings.

”Mighty!” Magnificent! Xiao Letian was a real hero, to be able to buy such a defensive weapon from a foreigner. No wonder even the French had to suffer a huge loss … Is this the newest rifled cannon hidden inside? Once the peace talks are completed, Foreign ministers will definitely visit and pay a visit to this place … ”

Lin Yuanmiao did not know why this old traitor had said this, but he had always heard his Foreign ministers call him that. You old traitor! Don't be a subject of our Ryukyu, this small country isn't enough for you to sell.

”Mister Gong is joking, His Majesty is waiting at the Guan Hai Pavilion in the Seven Stars Mountain. You are an esteemed guest of the Ryukyu, of course His Majesty will meet with you. This way please …”

Seeing that his attempt to visit the cannon emplacement had failed, Gong Cheng did not laugh awkwardly and followed Jin Changsen to pay his respects to. However, Gong Cheng did not know that while they were conversing, the imperial guards who were guarding the place had an accident.