Chapter 2068
Regarding the historical figures in this time and space, Ning Qi, who has a background in literature and history, is usually the most familiar with them. However, even if he has extensive knowledge of notes, it is difficult to remember some not-so-famous little figures. Although Zheng Zhilong is very famous, when it comes to his family, Ning Qi, like most people, only remembers his eldest son Zheng Sen who died a few years ago.
However, when Haihan and Shibazhi were fighting against each other, Ning Qi also spent a lot of time researching information about Shibazhi. At this time, when He Xi mentioned that Zheng Zhilong had married in Hirado, Japan, he vaguely remembered Some details related to this.
He Xi turned to look at Ning Qi and said slowly: "It seems that Mr. Ning has also remembered."
"Can you two stop playing riddles? What's going on?" Tao Donglai was confused and immediately urged them to tell the answer to the riddle quickly.
He Xi responded in a deep voice: "The woman Zheng Zhilong married in Japan is the daughter of a retainer of the Hirado domain, and her name is Tagawa Song."
"Tagawa...is the Japanese businessman suspected of being the mastermind mentioned in the previous report from the Ministry of Security the same surname?" Tao Donglai had a good memory and immediately remembered another clue.
He Xi nodded and said: "The Japanese calls himself Tagawa Kenji. Of course, it is possible that this is just a pseudonym. Even if it is the real name, it may not be related to Tagawa Matsu. But if this is not a coincidence, then maybe we will soon find the real mastermind behind the scenes. Made it.”
Of course, just a last name is not enough to explain anything, but now that the intelligence agencies have begun to doubt whether this is a coincidence, it is obviously necessary to continue to pursue this clue.
Tao Donglai asked: "What happened to Tagawa Song?"
He Xi responded: "We only know that she used to live in the Hirado Domain of Japan, but because we did not pay continuous attention, we do not have more precise information at hand."
After hearing this, Tao Donglai couldn't help but be silent. The lack of intelligence in this area cannot be simply attributed to the negligence of the Ministry of Security and other intelligence agencies. After all, the manpower is limited and it is impossible to take into account all aspects. It is impossible to send people to Japan to monitor such things at that time. It's hard to say there's much value to the goal. But He Xi had obviously noticed this clue before today's meeting, which finally made up for the omissions in previous intelligence work.
Ning Qi also said at this time: "If we follow historical records, Zheng Zhilong and Tagawa Song should have had a son and have been living in Japan."
"How old is his son? He shouldn't be an adult yet?" Tao Donglai asked.
He Xi had obviously done some research on this, and immediately said: "Zheng Zhilong's second son was born the year before we traveled through time. If there were no accidents, he should be twelve years old this year."
"At the age of twelve, even a child prodigy would not be able to plan and direct such a large operation." Tao Donglai felt a little relieved after hearing this answer. He actually doesn't want the case he is currently investigating to be related to Zheng Zhilong, because this only shows that there were serious loopholes in the pursuit and suppression back then, so that after four or five years, he still has to apologize for what was not completed at that time. Work wipes your ass.
He Xi shook his head and said: "Of course this kid can't be the main messenger, nor can he preside over such a big operation. However, the remnants of Shibazhi were not wiped out at that time. There is no guarantee that some people will not gather around him in the name of revenge. You see, the little bosses in charge of these commercial institutions we have recently seized are almost all people who are not afraid of death. The origins of these people are unknown. I suspect that they are all related to the Shibazhi. ”
He Xi now made it clear that he suspected that the remnants of Shiba Zhi were still active and had planned and implemented a series of weapons smuggling-related cases in recent months. Of course, this was just a speculation lacking evidence, so he did not issue an order to investigate it.
"Only relying on the overlap of one surname as a basis, this inference is not stable enough, right? Does the Ministry of Security have more evidence to support your opinion?" Tao Donglai also expressed caution about this. After all, Japan is not the Ming Dynasty, and it has no control over the sea. Han Dynasty is still a relatively unfamiliar area. If we want to investigate this, we will have to make a lot of noise.
He Xi responded: "Judging from the information we currently have, although this man named Tagawa Kenji can speak Chinese and has a good understanding of the situation in the Ming Dynasty and our country, he is an authentic Japanese. But we are currently from There is no more information about this person from the various trading ports. He is not a famous maritime merchant. If it were not for the confession from Jin Yiwei, we would not even know that such a person exists in the world. "
"Then the question arises. This person knows so much about the situation in the Ming Dynasty and our country's overseas colonial ports. He should be a merchant who frequents various trading ports, and he will never be an unknown person. But the actual situation is exactly the opposite. This person is in There is no reputation in the business world at all. So where does his knowledge of Ming Dynasty and our country come from? I think it does not come from his own experience, but from information provided by others, such as those captured by us in various places. A small boss who runs a business organization.”
"Also, this group of people can open so many commercial institutions along the coast of Ming Dynasty and my country's overseas colonial ports. They have trading partners from the north of Liaoning Province to the Philippines. The amount of capital required to invest is not a small amount. It is definitely not something ordinary businessmen can do. Affordable. Anyone with such a family must have already become a dominant maritime trader, at least at Xu Xinsu's level. With Japan's limited maritime trade scale, it is unlikely that such a scale of operations can be achieved. But if you have Shiba Zhi’s family background, it will be much easier to achieve these business projects.”
He Xi explained some of the doubts he had thought of bit by bit. In his opinion, these doubts all pointed to the same direction of investigation, which was the Shiba Shiyu Party hiding in Japan. If this assumption is true, most of the unsolved mysteries currently arising in the investigation can be reasonably answered.
Ning Qi said: "It sounds quite reasonable, so your inference is now short of some key evidence to confirm." He Xi said in a deep voice: "I don't believe that so many people have been arrested alive one after another. You can’t pry it open even if you open your mouth!”
Since the Zhangzhou Jinfa and Zhengfuji incidents, in just a few days, Haihan has seized several commercial institutions possessing Spanish-style weapons in multiple trading ports, and arrested dozens of suspects. However, among these people, only a few leaders who used their identities as shopkeepers as cover were the ones who really had key information. These leaders were all die-hards and were completely unwilling to cooperate during the interrogation, which prevented the investigation from making the expected progress.
Lu Jiu, who was arrested in Penghu Zhengyuanji, was the first ringleader to be tried. Yu Yao thought that the other party would soon confess under torture, but he did not expect that this guy had received anti-interrogation training. Although he spoke after the torture, the content of his confession was inconsistent with the beginning and the end, and the credibility was extremely low.
The subsequent leaders captured from other places were also in similar situations. They seemed to rather die than confess the information they had. Torture experts are not available in every place. If there is no such condition and the trial is not successful, the person can only be sent back to Sanya for processing. The investigation is delayed for several days.
But at this time, Yu Yao, who had received the secret order from Sanya, was using another method to investigate the relevant situation.
The Batavia War in 1632 dealt a huge blow to the Dutch East India Company's operations in East Asia. Haihan also entered Taiwan Island at this time with great force, further reducing the Dutch's space for activities. The Haihan fleet came to the city and directly blocked the port of Damuan. In order to retain the only Dutch colony near Daming, the Dutch had to lower their heads and sign a peace agreement with Haihan, and then watched helplessly as the Haihan people were close to Damuan. Kaohsiung Port was built less than a hundred miles away.
When Hans, the chief of Taiyuan Port, was still hesitating whether to hinder the construction of Kaohsiung Port, the Haihan Army attacked the two port strongholds of Tamsui and Jilong, which were then ruled by Spain, at the beginning of the next year, and then moved the Spanish The people rushed back to the South China Sea. The Dutch asked themselves that their strength was not much better than that of the Spaniards, and they did not dare to make any mistakes at the moment.
After that, Haihan stationed armed forces in Penghu and Kaohsiung. Taiyuan Port, which is located right in between, was basically exposed to Haihan's surveillance without any cover. Any improper behavior may quickly attract military strikes. . Apart from being an honest person, the Dutch have no other choice.
Although the East India Company thus maintained a bridgehead for trade with the Ming Dynasty, there were very few goods left that they could sell to the Ming Dynasty, and basically all of them were squeezed out of the market by Haihan goods. Moreover, due to the existence of Haihan, almost all people who were willing to leave Daming to make a living chose Haihan as their destination. It was difficult for the Dutch to recruit immigrants from Daming to expand the scale of operations in Damuan Port, and the Dutch people in Batavia Not many people are willing to go thousands of miles away to settle in a colonial port that is not prosperous. Therefore, after a few years, Taiyuan Port has been left far behind by Kaohsiung Port, which came from behind. It is still only a small port with a permanent population of less than 3,000.
However, Damuan Port's income can also rely on another livelihood, which is to serve as a transit port for domestic merchant ships on the northern route, allowing Dutch merchant ships bound for Dinghai Port in Zhejiang, as well as Ryukyu and Japan to complete supplies and repairs here. Although there are not too many merchant ships running these routes, it can at least make Taiyuan Port a little more popular and not appear too depressed.
For Hans, being able to keep this port means keeping the only privilege he has. Although he is a little aggrieved under the supervision of the Haihan people, fortunately, the Haihan people still pay attention to credibility. Since the signing of the peace treaty, There is no sign of invading Damuan Port. The past few years have been much peaceful than before the Haihan people came to Fujian, when the Ming, Shibazhi, and Spanish were fighting back and forth.
Although under the provisions of the peace treaty, Taiyuan Port cannot retain too much force deployment, especially the shore defense firepower and armed ships are subject to extremely strict restrictions, there have been no troubles in recent years. After all, the Haihan military base in Penghu and Kaohsiung is within easy reach, and no one dares to cause trouble in the nearby waters. To a certain extent, it serves as a free protection umbrella for Taiyuan Port. Although Hans was unwilling to give in, he also knew that this situation could no longer be changed by his own power, so he could only accept it calmly.
However, although they are close together, the wells and rivers between the two countries do not interfere with each other, and there is rarely any contact between them. The Batavia authorities did not want Taiyuan Port to be gradually assimilated by Haihan, and Hans also understood the importance of keeping a distance from Haihan, so the two sides rarely had official exchanges in normal times.
But today the sun probably came out from the west, and a Haihan warship sailed into Damuan Port in a grand manner. However, judging from the closed gun windows of the ship, there should be no malicious intent in this visit.
After receiving the report from his men, Hans immediately rushed to the port to check the situation. He did not think that the arrival of the Haihan warships was to invade Da Yuan Port. If the Haihans really planned to do this, they should not be so big as to send only one. The warship is coming. But he didn't feel that the Haihan people's initiative to visit had much goodwill. If it was a normal diplomatic exchange, there would be no need to send a warship. An ordinary sailing ship would be enough.
But after the warship docked, Hans was surprised by the person who got off the ship. The person turned out to be Yu Yao, Haihan's top military officer in the Fujian Strait area. A senior official of this level visited Tai Yuan Port without even saying hello in advance, which really surprised Hans.
Surprised, Hans did not dare to show any slightness. He knew that General Haihan had great authority and could command the Taiwan fleet with more than 30 warships, as well as more than 2,000 troops stationed on Taiwan Island and Penghu Island. army. Even with just one order from the other side, Damuan Port can be turned into another piece of territory on the Haihan territory within one day.
After Hans stepped forward and exchanged a few words with Yu Yao, he felt relieved because the other party said that he had some trade matters to discuss with him this time, not the issues he was worried about. Hans quickly had his carriage brought over and invited Yu Yao to his official residence for a slow and detailed discussion.
Hans's official residence is the city of Geranze located on the banks of the Saltwater Creek. This castle stronghold was built in 1623, but the first phase of the project was not actually completed until 1632. At this time, the Batavia War broke out, and all the East India Company's resources in East Asia were transferred back to the South China Sea, leaving no funds to support the construction of the castle. After that, the Haihan people quickly entered Taiwan, and the peace agreement that the Dazhan authorities were forced to sign included a requirement to stop the continued construction of the Relanja City combat fortifications. Therefore, the castle actually only built a rough framework, and then was forced to dismantle all the fortifications and convert it into a manor in subsequent projects.
(End of chapter)