Chapter 2138
Yu Chengli waited anxiously in the Portuguese shop for a long time. Near noon, Gonzalez finally came back. When Yu Chengli saw him coming in, he didn't say much nonsense. He quickly stood up and asked, "It's been hard work, but is there any good news?"
Gonzalez's expression was a little complicated, and he was silent for a while before responding: "Good news? The Haihan people are preparing to withdraw their troops. Is this good news?"
"Of course this is good news!" Yu Chengli responded, but seeing that there was no excitement on Gonzalez's face, he quickly asked: "Is there any bad news?"
Gonzalez nodded and said: "There is indeed bad news. The Haihan people plan to completely destroy this place before evacuating. There may be no Hirado Port in the future."
Yu Chengli was startled when he heard this, and asked tremblingly: "Then we...don't..."
"Don't worry, they only plan to destroy Hirado Port, not kill all the people here." Gonzalez comforted: "Besides, we are not Japanese, the opponents of the Haihan people are not us, and they are not making things difficult for us. Necessary, but your wallet may be damaged.”
Yu Chengli finally calmed down a little and quickly asked Gonzalez to explain the ins and outs of this in detail.
Gonzalez went to see Simao, the Portuguese military attaché in the Haihan Army, early this morning. However, it was not easy to enter the forbidden area of the military camp, and it took a lot of effort for him to be brought in by Simao's men.
The friendship between compatriots and Gonzalez's generous gift made Simang patiently explain to Gonzalez the current general situation and the Haihan Army's next arrangements for Hirado Port.
According to Simang, all merchants, sailors, and other practitioners from foreign countries will receive permission to leave Hirado after verifying their identity. Foreigners can choose to return to their home country or go to other areas of Japan, and their personal property can also be taken away. However, the Kaihan Army will not leave too much time for foreigners to evacuate. They must leave Hirado before the set evacuation deadline. Those who violate the deadline may have their property confiscated by the Kaihan Army, and may even be considered as hostile acts. Was arrested.
This arrangement seems humane, but it is not easy for businessmen like them. First of all, the industry they operate in Hirado will end here, and it is impossible for them to take away real estate such as real estate and land. The value of this part of the property will most likely be directly cleared.
Secondly, the Hirado clan officials requisitioned all local civilian ships before the war began, even if they were big businessmen with connections. Therefore, if the cargo ships under their names were anchored in Hirado Port at that time, they would not be spared. Nowadays, even if you want to leave, you may not be able to find a boat, let alone transport all your property out. I am afraid that all these related transportation costs will have to be borne by them.
Such forced eviction will not only cause them to suffer huge economic losses, but will also bring the trade channels they have worked so hard to build to the brink of collapse. Although Haihan also left them an option to go to other places in Japan on their own, even if they go to an emerging trading port like Nagasaki, it will be very difficult to start over.
Thinking about this, Yu Chengli certainly understood why Gonzalez felt that the Haihan Army's imminent withdrawal was not good news. For businessmen like them, the real financial losses may only begin to be calculated now.
"Then the Haihan people are planning to drive away only us foreigners?" Yu Chengli still had a bit of luck, thinking that if the worst happened, he would leave Hirado for a while and hand over the property to reliable locals to take care of it, and then come back to continue the business when the situation calms down. .
Gonzalez smiled bitterly and said: "Do you think the Haihan people are so careless in doing things?"
Yu Chengli said in astonishment: "Do they want to expel all the locals as well?"
"It's not just deportation!" Gonzalez sighed: "You also know that the Haihan people started loading and transporting prisoners of war yesterday, right? It's not just the prisoners they want to transport away, but everyone here!"
"Everyone..." Yu Chengli was really frightened now. He has been operating in Hirado Port for many years and naturally knows the approximate population size of the local area. However, the Haihan people actually want to move all the thousands of people here. This is an unheard of move!
Although Yu Chengli did not fully understand the real reason why Haihan took action against the Hirado Domain, he clearly intended to use a tactic against the Hirado Domain. Imagine that all these thousands of people were moved away. Even if the ruler of the Hirado clan came back after Kaihan retreated, it would probably be difficult to get this place up and running again in a short time.
And business waits for no one. If Hirado loses its trading ability, Japan's foreign trade port will soon be transferred from Hirado to the alternative Nagasaki. The merchants must have their own interests first, and there will definitely be no one left to help the Hirado clan rebuild this trading port. Moreover, everyone will definitely weigh whether they can withstand another attack by the Haihan army before returning to Hirado. the losses caused.
Hirado is finished. Yu Chengli secretly sentenced this place to death in his heart. Although these news are just hearsay from Gonzalez, Yu Chengli has no doubt that the Haihan people can really accomplish such an incredible thing.
He had heard before that when Haihan received tens of thousands of refugees from the Denglai Rebellion from the Shandong Peninsula and the coastal areas of Jiangsu, the refugees were sent to the south for resettlement by sea. Since Haihan had the ability to organize the long-distance migration of large numbers of people a few years ago, it does not seem to be an impossible task to relocate all the people on Hirado Island today.
Yu Chengli was originally thinking about how to get Haihan to let him go and save these local properties, but after hearing the news from Gonzalez, he knew that it would be difficult to realize his plan. Haihan has already made arrangements to take over Hirado Island, so how can he allow individual businessmen to stay here? If they want to force themselves to stay on the island, let alone protect their family property, they may not even be able to save their lives by then.
But it was impossible to say that he had lost a lot of money in vain without feeling heartache. When Yu Chengli bought land in the city to build this business store, he spent two to three thousand taels of silver on it. If this war hadn't happened, his store would have been resold for at least four thousand taels. But now the investment has simply disappeared, and if he wants to move to another trading port, Wouldn't it mean that we would have to spend additional money to buy property and build a house? It's not a small amount when we calculate it here and there.
Yu Chengli sighed and said: "Since the situation is like this, we can't try to be a chariot with our hands, so we can only obey the arrangements of the Haihan people. But we still need to make careful calculations on how to minimize the losses."
Gonzalez said: "The news I heard is that the Haihan people will announce a compensation plan for foreign businessmen, but I don't know the specific content yet. Maybe in addition to returning to China and going to Nagasaki, there will be a third one." Choice." Yu Chengli said with some disapproval: "The Haihan people are known for their shrewdness, and the compensation they give may not be so easy to get, maybe they are trying to kill us in the name of compensation!"
Gonzalez felt a little guilty after hearing this. Although Simang promised to take care of him as much as possible, there was no guarantee that he would not suffer further financial losses. What's more, even if Simang was willing to take care of him, he might not be able to convince the Haihan people to give him some care. Special treatment.
The two of them waited in this uneasy atmosphere until the afternoon, when the situation took a new turn. Officer Haihan came to Gonzalez's shop and announced to him the latest decision of the command.
Foreign businessmen have the freedom to choose where to go, and can take away all their property within a limited period, but they must bear all the expenses during the period. Another compensation plan mentioned by Gonzalez is for Haihan to provide transportation capacity to transport merchants to Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, Zhejiang. The transportation services here are provided free of charge by Haihan officials. If businessmen are willing to settle in Dinghaiport, they can also get significant discounts in land purchase and taxation.
Yu Chengli and Gonzalez are both businessmen, so they naturally figured out the meaning as soon as they heard it. The Haihan people are pushing outwards with one hand and pulling back with the other. On the one hand, they want to expel foreign merchants from Pinghu and cause them to suffer economic losses. On the other hand, they are providing preferential conditions to attract them to settle in the areas under Haihan's rule. In this way, It can effectively recover part of the losses without worrying about safety issues during the evacuation of Hirado.
If you are still unwilling to cooperate with Haihan under such conditions and insist on doing things on your own, then Haihan will naturally not care about the losses of these businessmen.
"Master Jun, do you mean that if you are willing to go to Zhoushan, you can also transport your belongings there for free?" Yu Chengli asked cautiously to confirm whether his understanding was correct.
The officer nodded and said: "Yes, not only is it free, but it is transported by warship, so you can be completely assured of safety. However, the space on the warship is limited. It's first come, first served. It depends on who signs up first. I'm late. , then you may have to find a way to find a boat. You should decide quickly so that I can return to my life.”
"Please, Sir, please wait a moment." Yu Chengli flipped his hand and handed over a silver coin.
The officer calmly took it, weighed it, and then said to them: "Don't wait too long!"
Yu Chengli followed Gonzalez to another room. After closing the door, Yu Chengli asked: "What does Boss Gang think of the conditions of the Haihan people? Should he agree to them?"
Gonzalez said: "The big man I met in the morning gave me advice not to choose a single-plank bridge. I think he may be right. We should choose the path that is most beneficial to us."
Which road is Yangguan Avenue and which road is the single-plank bridge seems to be self-evident under the current situation. They are all shrewd businessmen, and naturally they know which option is most beneficial to them in the current situation.
The decision was made quickly, and the two men returned to the hall to give Officer Haihan his answer. After seeing off the officer, the two were silent for a long time. With their knowledge, they could no longer predict the direction of the next situation, so they could only take one step at a time. The only good thing is that at least the Haihan people's business reputation has always been quite good, and the treatment they promised seems to be trustworthy.
There are actually not many foreign businessmen like them who have a certain size of real estate in Hirado, but in the face of the conditions set by Haihan, almost no one chooses to leave on their own or go to Nagasaki. The reason is very simple. Refusing to cooperate means rejecting the protection provided by Haihan. If you refuse even this kind of protection, it will not be surprising if anything happens.
The businessmen could bear the financial losses, but they did not dare to risk their lives on whether Haihan had arranged for a follow-up to kill him. In such a time of war and chaos, surviving first is more important than anything else, not to mention that by cooperating with Haihan, there is a chance to save most of the family property. As for how to manage things after going to Zhoushan, no one is in the mood to think about such far-off things now. In short, we need to leave the hell place of Hirado first.
Having money makes it easier to do things. This principle applies to all eras, even in Hirado during the war. The richest group of foreign businessmen in Hirado almost all received notification from the Haihan Army immediately. Soon after, officers came to the door with temporarily recruited civilians to help these businessmen sort out their supplies, package them and transport them to the port for loading. Boat.
"Shi Diwen, you are really ruthless with this move! Not only do you have to drive people away, but you also drag them all back to Zhoushan! Tsk tsk... It's really high!" Qian Tiandun couldn't help but feel after listening to the latest progress report I admire this plan planned by Shi Diwen.
Shi Diwen waved his hand and said: "It's no big deal, it's just basic operations! Moreover, these foreign businessmen may not really settle down in Zhoushan after they arrive. I estimate that it would be good if one-third to half of them can be retained." The key is to use this method to achieve a concept. If you don’t want to offend Haihan, you can’t do business with the Hirado Domain.”
"This way, even if Tagawasuke wants to rebuild Hirado in the future, it will be difficult for him to have the same trade status." Qian Tiandun added with understanding.
Shi Diwen nodded and said: "Yes, we just want businessmen from all over the world to know this rule! If the Hirado clan's main source of income is cut off, I don't believe they can still support their armed fleet with their income from farming and fishing!" < br>
Shi Diwen has already made clear arrangements for how to evacuate Hirado. The first step is to transport away the prisoners. Without this special group with the strongest combat effectiveness, the locals will not be able to cause a big mess no matter how much trouble they make during the subsequent forced relocation. . The next step is to move the most wealthy and powerful foreign businessmen out of Hirado. Although the remaining people are large in number, they seriously lack organization and the ability to judge the situation, and it will be relatively easy to operate.
During this process, it was Shi Diwen's small selfishness to bring businessmen from various countries to Zhoushan. However, no one here competes with him for such resources. Among the few generals, he is the only one who manages a colonial area under his name. They all turn a blind eye and treat it as a favor to him.
(End of chapter)