C1726 Shang Tais Rivers and Mountains (1/2)

Shang Tai was surnamed Shang Tai, and from the first three mountains of the Ming Dynasty onwards, the Shang Clan had borrowed the power of the Ming Dynasty to unify the Ryukyu Islands, establishing a feudal kingdom.

The original Ryukyu Islands were just a group of tribesmen fighting for the right to live. Gradually, some tribes merged together and formed the pattern of three mountains competing for hegemony.

Nanshan, Zhongshan, and Beishan were the three mountains that were named after their geographical location. The three Tribes had begun to fight, and it had been hundreds of years since anyone had defeated anyone.

Until that time, the leader of Zhongshan Tribe, the Shang family, had obtained the support of Emperor Hongwu. However, that didn't mean they were supporting the Emperor, who had allocated several hundred households from Fujian to immigrate and recognize the status of Zhongshan King politically.

However, just these few hundred regular immigrants had completely strengthened the Zhongshan Kingdom. These people had brought along advanced shipbuilding techniques, farming techniques, and iron smelting techniques, causing Zhongshan's civilization level to soar by a large amount.

Very quickly, Zhongshan annexed the Nanshan and Northmont, eventually unifying them and forming a feudal kingdom that had lasted until today.

The Shang Family's rule over the Ryukyu could only be barely maintained. The continent's civilization was still very friendly to them, but the continent's civilization was too arrogant, they did not have the spare energy to pay attention to such a small country.

In the end, Shimadzu Family found an opening and squeezed it out for more than two hundred years, until Xiao Letian finally saved the place.

But the era had changed greatly. When the Ryukyu opened its doors and the westerly wind blew in, Shang Tai who had just been released suddenly realized, although he had gotten rid of the pressure of the Shimadzu Family, he was no longer able to resist the tide of the era.

The young Wang greedily studied the knowledge of the West. As long as he had the time, he would ask Xiao Letian for advice, and there were even more scholars. Gradually, he understood a principle, this era was no longer a time where weak nations could live.

Everything Journey to the West said was true. When the world became smaller and smaller due to technology, the large powers would crush the weak countries ruthlessly.

If you are useless, if you do not have the power to protect yourself, then you will only end up being swallowed by other empires.

After researching the road of countless great nations, the sorrowful Shang Tai finally recognized a cruel reality. The Ryukyu no longer had any hope.

Firstly, the land area of this country was too small, and if there was no trade, it would not be able to support too many people. If a country did not have enough people, then it would be excluded from the threshold of a powerful country.

Furthermore, the Ryukyu did not have the resources, so they could not develop heavy industry here. Thus, they could only rely on other economies to transfer some light industry to them to sustain them. Just like the current prosperity of the Ryukyu, this was purely due to Xiao Letian's policy.

Steel, chemical industry, large machinery and other industries were placed in the Tanggu District and were all expanding towards the north. What the Ryukyu obtained were light industries that relied on these basic industries, in short, they were industries that could be processed using raw materials, especially military enterprises that needed to be kept secret.

Of course, there was also the financial sector, which was one of the pillars supporting the economy of the Ryukyu. However, it was a pity that the financial empire belonged to Xiao Letian and not to him, King Shang Tai.

The last sad reason was that the Ryukyu had already lost her chance in history. They had missed the enlightenment stage of the great voyage, and the bud of the first Industrial Revolution had not appeared yet. Just as the Prime Minister had said, the Second Industrial Revolution's star fire had already lit up, but Shang Tai had already searched for several years with his innocent big eyes wide open, and did not see where the spark was.