Chapter 2071
According to the previous investigation results obtained by the Haihan Intelligence Department, the adversary is very good at deploying and operating small commercial institutions in various trading ports, and using this as a cover to implement various subsequent means. Although the trade scale of Taiyuan Port is far less than that of other trading ports that have discovered the opponent's movements, considering that the East India Company has maintained trade relations with Japan, if the opponent is really hiding in Japan, it is very likely that the opponent will not let go. In Hong Kong, Yu Yao believes that it is still necessary to investigate local business institutions.
Hans immediately understood Yu Yao's intention: "Your Excellency General, all local people are protected by the East India Company. We cannot allow your country to conduct investigations or arrest people here."
"It goes without saying these official words." Yu Yao shook his head and vetoed Hans's statement: "I believe that the East India Company was an unknowing party before this, but if Mr. Hans tries to shelter the suspect who may be hiding in Damuan Port , then it will be difficult for us to deal with the current differences in a peaceful manner.”
Hans wanted to maintain the dignity of the East India Company with a tough attitude, but Yu Yao also responded tit-for-tat, elevating Hans's statement to protecting the suspect, challenging Haihan, and once again hinted that the other party might trigger an armed conflict. He was very clear about the shortcomings of the East India Company. The other party could not afford to lose the port of Damian. As long as he used this as a condition to blackmail the Dutch, he would basically be able to do everything.
Sure enough, after hearing these words, Hans's face turned very ugly again. It was not a good feeling to have someone take control of him. Judging from Yu Yao's confident look, he obviously expected that the Taiyuan Port authorities would have to give in. After a battle between heaven and man, Hans finally had no choice but to compromise again.
Compared with Damuan Port, setting up permanent offices in Magong Port, Kaohsiung Port, or Zhangzhou and Quanzhou across the strait are obviously better choices for foreign businessmen. After all, those places have specialized trading facilities. In the market, there are more types of commodities to choose from, and there are also more complete transaction and settlement management systems to provide guarantees. Therefore, the foreign merchants who established permanent offices in Taimuang Port were actually a scarce resource for the East India Company, and they could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
As one of the few foreign commercial organizations in the local area, Hans, as a local official, could not be justified in saying that he had no knowledge. Therefore, Yu Yao did not need to spend time on field evidence collection and investigation. He could get the information he needed from Hans. .
As for whether someone would get wind of it at this time, or sneak out of Taiyuan Port immediately after sensing the danger, Yu Yao was not worried. In addition to the warship currently moored in Taiyuan Port, there are actually two warships cruising on the sea not far from the port. This is also to prevent sufficient armed forces from approaching for reinforcements in the event of a sudden change in the situation. Yu Yao himself had the idea of defeating mountains and shaking tigers, so he arrogantly took a warship to visit Damuan Port. If anyone tried to escape Taiyuan Port by boat during his stay, he would undoubtedly be intercepted by the Haihan warship at sea.
"Well, there is a local trading company whose operator is from Japan..." Hans finally couldn't bear the pressure and honestly told Yu Yao what he knew.
About half an hour later, a group of heavily armed Dutch soldiers were dispatched from the city of Geranje, entered the market and surrounded a certain trading house. This was the last bit of dignity that Hans had obtained under his strong request. The Dutch side sent troops to inspect the shop, so as to prevent Haihan soldiers from swaggering through the city and affecting the mood of the local people.
Although Yu Yao was a little dissatisfied, he finally agreed to the other party's conditions. After all, Damuan Port was still under the rule of the Dutch. If the Haihan Army was allowed to launch an arrest operation here, it would indeed hurt the Dutch. face. Now that the other party is willing to cooperate, Yu Yao is happy to save trouble, and the same is true for letting the Dutch arrest the person.
However, Yu Yao did not forget to remind Hans that if this trading company was the target of Haihan's pursuit, it would probably have weapons such as muskets hidden in it, and might use force to resist the arrest.
However, Hans's men probably did not receive clear warnings from their superiors before taking action. Therefore, during the subsequent arrest operations, these Dutch soldiers underestimated the danger of the arrest target. When they tried to forcibly close the store and arrest the person, encountered resistance, and then the most intense battle in Taiyuan Port in recent years took place.
By the time Hans in Relanja City received news from the front that something had gone wrong in the arrest operation, the battle on the front line was actually over. When Hans and Yu Yao arrived at the scene by car, the place was already surrounded by hundreds of Dutch soldiers. People who tried to join in the fun and watch were all kept away. Only official people could enter this place.
The result of this battle greatly embarrassed Hans. Two of his subordinates who came to carry out the arrest mission were killed and seven injured. This was the most serious casualty incident in Damuan Port after the peace agreement was signed with Haihan. It would have been fine if the opponent was the Haihan Army, but this time the person fighting against the Dutch Army was just the operator of a shop. This simply made Hans cry without tears. He originally wanted to settle the matter quickly and send the Haihan people out of the country quickly, but he didn't expect his men to be so unlucky and make such a big mistake on their own land.
Later, Hans met the ashen-faced officer leading the team and listened to his story.
This officer did not encounter any obstruction when he led the team into the business. However, when he told the shopkeeper that everyone here would be taken back to the city of Jeranja to assist in the investigation, and that the inside and outside of the business would be searched, the shopkeeper First, he tried to bribe him directly with money. After he failed, he claimed that he needed some time to sort out the business, and then summoned employees to follow him back to the city of Relanja.
The officer leading the team, who lacked sufficient vigilance, believed the shopkeeper's words, but he never expected that the shopkeeper immediately summoned several clerks in the shop, took out several muskets from somewhere, and followed the shopkeepers guarding the shop directly. The Dutch soldiers did it. Caught off guard, several people were shot and fell to the ground.
However, there were more than 40 Dutch soldiers on the arrest mission, and more than half of them were guarding outside the store. Therefore, although the group in the store took action first, they were unable to escape in the end, and were blocked in the store and ate several meals. A volley of musketry was fired. In the end, no one escaped, but no one was left alive. All six people in the store, including the shopkeeper, were shot dead on the spot.
"That's it? I have to say, this really disappoints me." Yu Yao expressed dissatisfaction with the results achieved by Hans' men: "The army was dispatched, but not even a single person was caught alive!"
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Hans could only forcefully defend himself: "This is a group of very dangerous guys. My soldiers have tried their best for this and even sacrificed their lives! General, as a soldier, I don't think you should comment so disdainfully. Your peers.”
Yu Yao avoided answering Hans's counterattack, and then said: "If I am not mistaken, this group of people is the same group of people we were chasing before, that is, you were unwilling to cooperate and tried to The object of protection. Now you should know why we must check their background!" Yu Yao did not expect that the investigation in Danyuan Port would reach this stage. When he asked Hans whether there were any suspicious business organizations in the local area, he also took a chance, but he did not expect that there was such a local business company with a Japanese operator, and he did not expect that the only one being investigated was himself. The target you are looking for.
It is a pity that the Dutch's handling of this was not ideal, and their performance in the capture operation was even worse than that of the Ming army across the strait. Not catching anyone alive means that there is no way to get more information immediately.
Several muskets seized after the battle were handed over. After Yu Yao looked at them, he quickly determined that these guns were exactly the same as the muskets seized in Penghu and Kaohsiung. They were also standard weapons produced by the Spanish. .
"These damn Spaniards are really restless!" Hans had already believed the information that Yu Yao had previously revealed to him, thinking that this was a collusion between the Spaniards and some of the Eighteenth Party members with ulterior motives. A special plan to create chaos in places like Taiyuan Port and seek opportunities to seize dominance.
"Now that things have happened, I think there is no need for you to hide anything from me anymore, so can you give me a more detailed explanation of the situation of this firm?"
Although there was no one alive, Yu Yao believed that Hans would definitely not know anything about the origin of this trading company, and it would be useful to know some relevant information now.
Hans also realized that his territory had been planted with hidden stakes, and the person who arranged this was one of the trading partners of the East India Company. Due to profit considerations, the East India Company probably has no way to further investigate this matter, let alone send an armed fleet to Japan to trace the truth. However, since the Haihan people are determined to investigate the matter thoroughly, they may be able to use the Haihan people to power to take revenge on the mastermind behind the scenes.
"They really shouldn't provoke you Haihan people. They are asking for death!" Hans shook his head and sighed, and then told Yu Yao some of the information he knew.
The store that opened a trading house in Taimei Port was called Hirado Bank, and its name already made clear its background. It was a commercial institution with an official background of the Hirado clan. However, the personnel stationed in Taiyuan Port of this Hirado bank are all Han Chinese. The shopkeeper claims to be Liu, but his true identity cannot be confirmed now.
This local trading house was only opened a year and a half ago. Its main business content is to cooperate with the East India Company. Hirado Bank will pay for it, and the East India Company will purchase goods from the Ming Dynasty, Haihan and other countries, and then The Hirado Bank then transported these goods back to the country, where they were sold or paid tribute to senior officials of the shogunate.
The reason for adopting this trade method is that Japanese merchants have limited purchasing channels overseas. Even if they go to various trading ports along the Ming Dynasty on their own, they may not be able to successfully purchase the goods they need at the ideal price, especially those produced in Haihan. It is difficult for Japanese businessmen to travel to distant Sanya to complete trade. The Dutch have always been the most trusted trading partners of the Hirado clan, so this kind of good thing about changing hands was taken care of by acquaintances.
Of course, looking at it now, this kind of transfer of benefits may have other hidden purposes, such as making the Taiyuan Port authorities relax their vigilance and allowing Hirado Bank to implement various secretive methods. Similar tactics were used by Zhangzhou's Zhengfu Ji on the local Jinyiwei industry to gain official protection.
The Haihan people have never entered Taimuang Port. The security level of deploying a commercial establishment here is definitely better than other places. The Dutch have benefited. In order to maintain this source of income, it is unlikely to expose the existence of Pinghu Bank to the outside world. . But the person who planned this matter never expected that the Haihan people would eventually find other clues and find out the port of Damuan. The Dutch could not withstand Haihan's pressure. Not only did they sell the Hirado Bank, but they also Plan to take it personally.
But it is precisely because Hirado's transactions with the East India Company have always been stable in the past, with few trade disputes and never causing trouble in Taiyuan Port. Therefore, Hans did not think of this trading house until he issued the order to take action. It will be a dangerous existence.
But the vigilance of these people in the trading house was obviously much higher than that of the Dutch. Perhaps the news of the Haihan warship's visit had made them wary. When they realized that the Dutch's intention was to capture them back to Hot He was imprisoned in Lanzhe City and immediately decided to launch an attack. Perhaps these people's idea was to fight their way out and escape by boat, but they obviously did not expect that the Dutch had no intention of leaving an escape route for them. Although they took the initiative, they still failed to escape the roundup.
"So this Hirado branch is actually the property of the Matsuura family, the lord of the Hirado domain?" Yu Yao was slightly surprised after hearing the answer, and confirmed the information with Hans again.
After getting Hans's affirmative answer, Yu Yao nodded and said: "Then I suggest you think of a better reason as soon as possible to the Matsuura family as to why all the people in the Hirado Bank of Taiyuan Port suddenly disappeared, and persuade them Send someone else to take over.”
Hans immediately understood what Yu Yao meant, and thought that the Han people had not been able to survive. Obviously, he was not reconciled to this, and hoped to use deception to get the Matsuura family to send more people into the trap. But he did not think this was a feasible method: "Your Excellency General, you said earlier that similar trading houses have been busted in many trading ports in the Fujian Strait region recently. These trading houses have had troubles one after another. It is difficult to completely conceal the news, right? etc. The news from Taiyuan Port has been sent to Hirado, and it is estimated that there has been warning there. ”
Although the speed of news spreading in this era is slow, as Hans said, Hirado will most likely receive news of incidents elsewhere first. By then, even if the Dutch make up the best story, it may be difficult to deceive the Hirado Domain. The mastermind behind.
(End of chapter)