Chapter 903: Inspection to the North (5)
Since the last century, many Ming merchants have come here across the sea to trade. Therefore, Hirado, like Nagasaki, has many Chinese-style buildings funded by Ming merchants and Han Chinese-inhabited neighborhoods. However, compared to Nagasaki Port, which has a strong Chinese cultural atmosphere, the commercial atmosphere here in Hirado is more prominent. Most of the Ming merchants built here were commercial halls and shops, while Nagasaki built many schools, Temples and other religious and cultural facilities.
Although Chen Yixin is young, he has traveled to many places. He believes that the reputation of Hirado Port is far greater than the actual operating level here. The construction status of the port, terminal and town is not even compared with places like Sanya. There is still a gap in the Penghu Magong Port that Haihan took over last year. If Haihan were to choose a location to build a trade port, Hirado would probably not even be qualified to be selected. After all, the Japanese's management level of sea trade is still a bit poor. If Haihan settles in Sasebo Bay in the south in the future, then Hirado will not be able to be selected. The Matsuura family who owns the company basically don't have to play anymore, and just work as distributors for Haihan.
After Matsuura Shinichi left, people from the Portuguese business office also came to visit Chen Yixin. Western colonists came to Hirado much earlier than Kaihan. In 1543, the great pirate King Nao brought the Portuguese to Kagoshima. In 1550, Portuguese merchant ships entered Hirado Port, along with missionaries. Francisco Xavier. This missionary, whose spread of Catholicism in Kagoshima was not successful, received hospitality and support from Matsuura Takanobu after arriving in Hirado, and Catholicism was able to spread widely in northern Kyushu. By the time Chen Yixin came to Hirado, there were already a large number of Catholic churches and believers on the island.
The Dutch established a trading post in Hirado in 1609. The British were a little slower, entering Hirado in 1613 and introducing sweet potatoes to local cultivation. However, the British obviously could not compete with their European counterparts in local operations. In 1623, they closed the merchant houses in Hirado and completely withdrew from Japan. Nowadays, the Spaniards and the Dutch are in the same situation as the British. The spices, glass products, and weapons they shipped from distant Europe are basically unable to compete with the Haihan goods shipped by the Portuguese from Hainan Island. Whether it is freight costs or production costs, the Portuguese clearly have a clear advantage.
The person who came to visit Chen Yixin was Ricardo, the consul of the Portuguese Commercial Embassy. He had visited Sanya and other places under Haihan's rule more than once, so he still had a certain understanding of Haihan. Hearing that a Haihan ship had arrived at Hirado Port, Ricardo immediately rushed to the inn where Chen Yixin stayed. Haihan’s output accounts for nearly half of the goods currently exported by the Portuguese to Japan. Therefore, no matter what the purpose of the Haihan fleet’s coming here, Ricardo responded with great vigor.
Ricardo had never met Chen Yixin before, so after meeting him, he could not help but be surprised by Chen Yixin's young appearance. He even had a little doubt in his heart whether he was the son of a high-ranking Haihan official. After all, he was leading a team at such a young age. When an ocean-going fleet goes on a mission to other countries, in addition to personal professional ability, prestige is also a very important factor, otherwise it will be difficult to convince subordinates of the orders issued.
Ricardo did not have the same language skills as Matsuura Shinichi, so he could only communicate with Chen Yixin through an interpreter. Only then did he learn from the other party's self-introduction that this young Haihan was actually a colonel officer of the Haihan Militia. As far as he knew, this was a very high-ranking military attache, and the Haihan Militia was said to be ranked based on military merit. Chen Yixin was promoted to colonel at a young age, and he had obviously achieved many military exploits.
For Chen Yixin, Ricardo is an unplanned source of intelligence. Considering that the cooperative relationship between Haihan and Portugal has been relatively close in recent years, the information obtained from Ricardo will be more credible. This speed can also save Haihan a lot of effort. So Chen Yixin seized this opportunity and asked him about various local conditions in Hirado, including politics, economy, military, geography, etc. He knew that the Portuguese business offices were not only used for business. Collecting this kind of information was a function that every foreign business office had. The difference only depended on the specific results.
Of course, Ricardo could more or less guess Chen Yixin's purpose, but the information that the Haihan people needed did not have much confidentiality value, so Ricardo didn't mind giving it to Chen Yixin to earn some favor. The Portuguese currently need to rely on Haihan in many aspects of their operations in the Far East. Especially when dealing with their two old rivals, Spain and the Netherlands, they must recruit Haihan, a strong backer. They can do this without harming their own interests. Providing some help to the Haihan people within our capabilities can also be regarded as a useful measure to promote the development of bilateral relations.
Therefore, among the intelligence provided by Ricardo to Chen Yixin, only about half of the information about the Matsuura family and Hirado Port was accounted for, while the other half was about the business conditions and trends of the Dutch and Spanish here. He didn't know the real purpose of the Haihan people coming here, but if he could persuade Chen Yixin to teach the Dutch and Spaniards operating in Japan a lesson, he would certainly be happy to see it happen.
Chen Yixin's mentality is not as young as he looks on the surface. Of course, he also noticed that Ricardo wanted to lead him. Chen Yixin didn't mind Ricardo's little thoughts. After all, the Netherlands, Spain and the sea The Han Dynasty was in a hostile state, and it was normal for the Portuguese to want to use their swords to kill people. Especially the Spaniards. After the two sides fought on Taiwan Island at the beginning of the year, they did not hold any form of formal peace talks. In other words, the two sides are still in a state of war, and they can start a fight at any time if they really want to. But what Chen Yixin is really interested in is another thing that has little to do with the Dutch and Spanish.
"Mr. Ricardo, you should know about Zheng Zhilong, right?" Chen Yixin changed the topic and mentioned another thing: "He also started to make a fortune in Hirado in his early years, and he should have some assets here. I just talked to him The Matsuura family also mentioned it tactfully, but they didn’t respond to me. It must be some inconvenience. I wonder if Mr. Ricardo can help me?”
"Zheng Zhilong?" Ricardo was slightly surprised when he heard the name, and soon regained his composure: "Of course I know that Zheng Yiguan is a well-known figure in Hirado. He got married, made a fortune, and had children here. He is closely related to the Matsuura family. The relationship has always been very good. His manor in Hirado is not far from here, but his family has moved away from Hirado and no longer lives here. Chief Chen does not have to worry about the attitude of the Matsuura family. I will definitely remain neutral and will not take sides because of the grudge between you and Zheng Zhilong.”
Zheng Zhilong was nicknamed Yiguan because he received the Christian name Nicolas when he was baptized by Catholics in Macau in 1621. Westerners, especially the Portuguese, used to call him Nicolas Iquan, that is, Nicholas Yiguan. The name Zheng Zhilong he used in the Ming Dynasty Not many people called her name. Zheng Zhilong later came to Kyushu, Japan, met and married the Tagawa family, the adopted daughter of the overseas Chinese blacksmith Weng Yihuang, and joined the pirate businessman Li Dan to work. In 1624, Zheng Zhilong's wife gave birth to his son Zheng Chenggong in Senrihama, Hirado. In the same year, Zheng Zhilong left Kyushu with his family and joined Yan Siqi. The following year, Yan Siqi and Li Dan died one after another. After Zheng Zhilong inherited their properties, he established the Eighteen Zhi that later dominated the southeastern seaboard.
After that, although Zheng Zhilong still maintained trade relations with Hirado, he never returned to live here again. After the Shibazhi were defeated in Penghu, they fled eastward and settled on Miyako Island between Taiwan and Ryukyu. After this, it is unknown whether Shibashiba still maintains secret trade relations with Hirado, but it is obviously impossible for the Matsuura family in charge of Hirado to offend a wealthy and capable force like Haihan for a down-and-out pirate leader. Maintaining neutrality is their secret to running Hirado Port. Ricardo believed that Chen Yixin took the initiative to mention Zheng Zhilong for two purposes. One was to understand the Matsuura family's current attitude towards Zheng Zhilong, and the other was to find out whether Zheng Zhilong still had trade relations with Hirado. As for why he wanted to inquire about this information, Ricardo believed that the Haihan people had finally freed up their hands to kill all the Eighteen Zhiyu Party members who had escaped from Penghu.
Although Ricardo was in Hirado, he still had a certain understanding of the changes in the situation in the south. After the Haihan people captured Penghu in May last year, they did not pursue Shibazhi. Later, they took advantage of the chaos in Batavia in the South China Sea. With the right opportunity, they entered Taiwan directly under the eyes of the Dutch and forced the Dutch to sign a peace agreement. After taking care of the Dutch, Haihan went to war non-stop against the Spanish entrenched in the northern part of Taiwan Island, uprooting the two colonial strongholds they had finally built in Taipei. The Spanish tentacles in the Western Pacific had to be removed from Taiwan Island. The city of Manila shrinks back to the South China Sea.
After fighting against these two families, Haihan has basically taken control of the coastline of Taiwan Island, and it seems logical to deal with the remaining overseas parties of Shibazhi next. After all, if the Haihan people want to open a route to Japan in the future, Shibashiba located on Miyako Island will be a huge hidden danger. Since Haihan has the ability to drive Shibazhi out of the Fujian Strait, he certainly wouldn't mind spending a little more time to get rid of them completely.
Although Zheng Zhilong had some friendship with the Portuguese in the past, after the appearance of the Haihan people, the Portuguese had completely sided with the Haihan camp. In terms of his attitude towards Shibazhi, not helping the Haihan people deal with them was considered as caring about old friendships, so Ricardo did not intend to deliberately hide it from Chen Yixin, and he would tell as much as he knew. As for how the Haihan people planned to deal with Zheng Zhilong, although Ricardo was curious, he was not prepared to get to the bottom of it. Anyway, the destruction of Shibazhi would not harm Portugal's interests. Instead, the Haihan people controlled the route to Japan via the Ryukyu Islands. After that, it is very likely that the northward passage of the Dutch and Spanish will be cut off.
From Ricardo's narration, Chen Yixin also quickly clarified several things. First, Shibazhi still maintains trade relations with Hirado officials in some non-public form; secondly, Zheng Zhilong has not appeared in Hirado after his defeat last year, and the last time he appeared here was on July 8th. It happened years ago; thirdly, Zheng Zhilong has no relatives to settle in Hirado, but he still has some real estate like land and houses, but these real estates are of little significance to Haihan.
Ricardo's prediction was correct. One of Chen Yixin's missions when he came to Hirado was to collect recent intelligence on Zheng Zhilong and Shibazhi to prepare for possible subsequent crackdowns. Although Shibazhi did not set foot in the Fujian Strait again during this year, and even kept an extremely cautious distance from the waters near Taiwan Island, the military had no intention of letting Shibazhi continue to survive like this. After the matter in Zhejiang is settled, the next target of the Haihan Militia is Miyako Island. Before that, the military hopes to safely block all Zheng Zhilong's escape routes to prevent him from escaping again.
The expedition fleet stayed in Hirado Port for two days, took a short rest and replenished materials, and then continued its journey north. After passing through the strait between Hirado Island and Kyushu, there is the Korean Strait between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The first stop of the fleet is Iki Island, located north of Kyushu Island and only more than ten nautical miles away from Hirado.
The island covers an area of more than 130 square kilometers. Most of the terrain is platform, with the highest altitude not exceeding 200 meters. In addition to the main island, there are 21 affiliated islands. According to information obtained in Hirado, a small number of fishermen have settled on the islands.
The fleet did not choose to land on this island, but just circled half of the island at a short distance along its west coastline, and then sailed to the next stop, Tsushima Island. Tsushima Island, composed of five islands, covers a land area of nearly 700 square kilometers and is only 50 kilometers away from the Korean Peninsula. From the northern end of the island, you can even overlook Busan on the Korean Peninsula. However, this place has always been under Japanese control and is the gateway for maritime transportation between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
The early historical records of Tsushima Island can be found in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou of the Jin Dynasty. During the two expeditions to Japan in the Yuan Dynasty, Tsushima Island was captured. At the beginning of the 15th century, the Joseon Dynasty sent troops to Tsushima Island in the name of "crushing Japanese pirates" in an attempt to occupy the area. However, it was still recorded in the "Haedong Kingdoms" compiled by Shen Shuzhou, the leader of the Joseon Dynasty in 1471. Tsushima Island belongs to Japan.
The Battle of Wenlu broke out in 1592, which was the Wanli Korean War in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Tsushima became the forward base for Japan to send troops to Korea. After the war, the relationship between the two countries was basically maintained by the trading center opened on Tsushima Island. By the time Chen Yixin led the fleet to arrive here, Tsushima Island was still controlled by the Tsushima clan clan who was loyal to the Edo shogunate.
The Haihan military has no special ideas about this place for the time being. Tsushima Island has neither a natural harbor nor natural conditions suitable for development. Although the land area of this island is not small, it is almost entirely mountainous, so colonization will be relatively difficult.
(End of chapter)