Revolutions and civil wars raged from time to time, and a feudal system was established. Commerce with China increased, and the Chinese complained of the scarcity of silver and copper coin in the provinces Tshe-kiang and Fokien, on account of the exportation of it to Loo-Choo. In 1500, the Loo-Choo people sent a trading junk to Malacca, many to the island of Formosa, and a great many to the southern ports of Japan. During the reign of Chang-tching, Loo-Choo became the market where Japanese and Chinese merchants met to exchange their goods. Commerce became brisk, and the constant quarrels between the Chinese and Japanese gave the king an opportunity to extend his influence. The extensive piratical operations of the Japanese, about the year 1525, having their headquarters at Ke-long-chan, on the island of Formosa, compelled the emperor of China to have recourse to the king of Loo-Choo as mediator between him and the emperor of Japan. The mediation did not suppress the piracy complained of, though backed by large squadrons sent to sea by the celestial emperor, to destroy the pirates, over whom his imperial confrere of Japan professed to have no control; indeed, the Japan monarch alleged that there were many Chinese among these outlaws.
The ascent of the throne of Japan by Taico Sama, proved an event of great importance. He was a man of great ability and shrewdness, and attained his high position by his own exertions, and not by birth. He put an end to feudalism in his country, and ruled with an iron hand. He conceived the idea of using to advantage the terror which prevailed because of the Japanese pirates, and the prestige which their daring acts had acquired. His ambition was as unbounded as his belief in manifest destiny, and his object was the conquest of China. He despatched officers to the king of Loo-Choo, ordering him to declare his kingdom tributary to Japan; and similar pressing invitations were sent to the governors of the Philippine islands, the king of Siam, &c. The sovereign of Loo-Choo temporized, and finally refused to submit, relying on Chinese protection. He informed the emperor of the plans of Taico Sama; a league of all these princes was formed against him, when Taico Sama invaded that fighting-ground between the Chinese and Japanese—the peninsula of Corea. Taico’s main object was attained. He reaped all the benefit proceeding from piracies licensed by him or enlisted in his service, and thus giving it the character of a regular warfare. He smothered civil war in its germ, and sent away his most influential opponents to fight in the Corea, not Crimea. Corea was then the safety-valve for ardent spirits against the government, as France keeps its Algiers, or keeps up a foreign war. Taico “savaad” a great deal.