Chapter 2353
Shen Xueyi listened to Wang Tom's explanation of the formation of Tottori Sand Dunes yesterday, and became concerned about it. After setting off from the mouth of the Chiyogawa River, he spent more time on the deck observing the coast, trying to see if it was really what Wang Tom said. This unique sight can only be seen in Tottori.
But the geographical knowledge described by Tom Wang has long exceeded the level of this era. In Japan's geographical environment with abundant precipitation, it is extremely rare to form large-scale sand dunes on the seaside. In addition to this place in the whole of Japan, there is another Sarunomori Sand Dune located at the northern end of Honshu Island, which is seven or eight times larger than the Tottori Sand Dunes. However, that sand dune was not on the route planned by Wang Tom, so it was definitely impossible for Shen Xueyi to see such special landforms elsewhere during this trip.
Traveling two hundred miles east from the Tottori Sand Dunes, the fleet sailed into a bay called Wakasa Bay. This huge bay, which is more than a hundred miles wide, contains several small bays and is dotted with many seaside fishing villages and small towns.
The route planned by Tom Wang did not directly cross Wakasa Bay, but turned south into the bay, obviously to explore somewhere in the bay.
Of course, what attracts Tom Wang is not the fishing villages near the sea, but another unique scenic spot. On the west coast of Wakasa Bay, there is Amanohashidate, which is one of the three most scenic spots in Japan along with Matsushima and Miyajima. Since the other two scenic spots are not on the route of this operation, since he has the opportunity to pass by here, Wang Tom of course also wants to see the unique scenery here.
In a small bay called Miyazu Bay, a narrow sandbar extends on the sea from north to south. It is shaped like a bridge extending diagonally toward the sky, so it was named Amanohashidate. This sandbar is seven or eight miles long, but its widest point is only about thirty feet. There are thousands of black pines growing on the sandbar, and the scenery is very beautiful.
Amakusa Shiro had never been here before, but he had heard about the myths and legends about this place, so he told the people who disembarked from the boat and came ashore to visit. It is said that this place was a pontoon bridge built by the male god Izanagi in the sky. Later, the pontoon bridge collapsed and fell to the earth, becoming the unique landscape of Amanohashidate.
Of course, it’s good to listen to such legends. Even if Wang Tom didn’t explain the cause of this scene, others can see that this place is clearly a long and narrow beach accumulated in the sea under the action of tides, winds and other factors. It has something to do with the gods. Mana shouldn't matter.
"This place... is already in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan." Wang Tom said slowly: "One hundred and fifty miles to the southwest, we will find Kyoto, Japan."
"One hundred and fifty miles? That's very close!" Shen Xueyi couldn't help but feel ready to take action when he heard the news.
Tom Wang smiled and said: "The entire distance between here and Kyoto is a mountainous area. The straight-line distance is 150 miles. The real distance is more than double."
Of course, Wang Tom understands Shen Xueyi's "making trouble" mentality. He definitely believes that if Haihan's force can be demonstrated in a place like Kyoto, it may have a certain impact on Japan's attitude towards Haihan in the future. But to go so far inland, Tom Wang was not going to take such a risk. Moreover, now that Japan has entered the period of shogunate rule, and the center of power has moved east from Kyoto to Edo, it does not make much practical sense to attack Kyoto.
After spending half a day admiring the natural scenery of Amanohashidate, the fleet continued to move eastward. Starting from Wakasa Bay, the coast of Honshu Island turns north and extends toward high latitudes.
After traveling two hundred miles north, you reach the Noto Peninsula, which is the largest peninsula on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu Island. The products here are most famous for pearls, lacquerware and sea cucumbers. However, for Wang Tom, the attraction of these things is far less than the beautiful natural scenery, so there is no need to delay the trip.
The fleet bypassed the Noto Peninsula and headed northeast to Niigata. Niigata also has things that interest Tom Wang, so he plans to spend some time and stop here.
The things that Tom Wang cares about are not local products in Niigata, and they are not even on Honshu Island, but on Sado Island, which is more than 60 miles away from the coast of Niigata.
Sado Island is the sixth largest island in Japan, covering an area of more than 800 square kilometers. It is flanked by Mount Osado and Mount Kosado on the north and south sides respectively. Between the two parallel mountains is the Kuninaka Plain. There are many rivers on the plain, which is very suitable for planting rice and the like. crop.
The reason why Tom Wang pays attention to this place is of course not to purchase the food produced on the island. The reason why he wants to lead a fleet to visit this place is because there is a special mineral on the island.
In 1601, someone discovered a gold mine on the island, and Sado Island was designated as shogunate territory by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, and gold mining on the island began. According to the information available to Tom Wang, during the peak mining period in the 17th century, the output of the Sado Gold Mine was probably the largest in the world at that time. The gold mines on the island were mined for nearly four hundred years before finally stopping due to the exhaustion of the veins. Moreover, this place is rich in gold and silver. Data records that a total of more than 70 tons of gold and more than 2,000 tons of silver were mined here. It is not an exaggeration to call it Treasure Island.
This is such a huge fortune. Of course, Wang Tom cannot turn a blind eye to it. It would be fine if it is far away. Since this trip is going to pass near Sado Island, of course he wants to come and see this place that provides a huge amount of money for the shogunate. A place of wealth.
There are two major bays, Ryotsu Bay and Mano Bay, on the northeast and southwest sides of Sado Island respectively. Ships traveling to and from Sado Island anchor in these two bays. However, Wang Tom did not intend to break into Sado Island too ostentatiously, so he commanded the fleet to sail to a coast north of Mano Bay.
Of course, there was another reason why he chose this destination. This coast was only a few miles away from the Sado Gold Mine marked on the map. Wang Tom thought that he might be able to go and observe the current mining conditions nearby to evaluate Haihan. Possibility of taking action here.
Geographically speaking, this place is indeed too far away from the area controlled by Haihan. It is more than two thousand miles away from Jeju Island at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. It is actually very difficult for Haihan to control this place, so Wang Tom did not visit Sado Island with the intention of winning, but just wanted to see the actual situation here.
If the Tokugawa shogunate mismanaged this place and neglected to take precautions, and Wang Tom felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, then he would not mind taking some actions to fight for Haihan's interests.
But the shogunate's development efforts here far exceeded Wang Tom's imagination. When he was still several miles away from the coast, Wang Tom saw through the telescope that there was a dock there and several sailboats were docked on the shore. . It was obviously impossible to get ashore from there without alerting anyone.
"General, although there is a pier there, it doesn't seem to have any decent shore defenses. We will just dock directly. If anyone tries to block it, we will fire artillery and force a landing. Even the defenders on the island can't beat us. ”
When Wang Tom hesitated, Shen Xueyi had already made suggestions from the side. Tom Wang smiled and thought to himself that this guy was really belligerent. He didn't even know the real purpose of coming here, but he was planning to use force.
"Do you know what we are looking for here?" Wang Tom asked deliberately. Shen Xueyi guessed: "Could it be that the Tagawa clan of the Hirado clan escaped here and hid?"
Tom Wang shook his head and said: "This is almost two thousand miles away from the Hirado clan. Even if Tagawasuke wanted to hide, he would not hide so far away."
Shen Xueyi thought for a while and then said: "I understand, there must be a very valuable treasure on the island, and the general wants to send troops to take it away."
Tom Wang nodded first, then shook his head and said: "It's true that there are treasures, but I can't take them away by force."
There was a confused look on Shen Xueyi's face, and he obviously didn't understand what power there was that could withstand the force of the Haihan Army.
"Amakusa Shiro, tell him the answer." Tom Wang was too lazy to talk to him anymore, so he asked Amakusa Shiro, a Japanese officer, to answer.
Of course Amakusa Shiro knew the special features of Sado Island, and immediately said to Shin Xueyi: "There are gold and silver mines on this island, which is one of the most important financial resources of the shogunate. Do you understand now?"
Shen Xueyi suddenly realized that of course the minerals buried underground could not be snatched away. If he wanted to snatch them away, he would have to snatch away the entire island as well. But he had seen the sea map before. This island is almost half the size of Jeju Island. If the Haihan Army wants to capture it, how many immigrants will be needed and how many troops will be stationed here to achieve long-term occupation?
At least this fleet is definitely not able to do this right now. Even if it can get ashore, it can only make a fortune and run away. It will be difficult to stay here for a long time.
Of course, Tom Wang had already considered these factors that Shen Xueyi could think of. There won't be much of a problem in carrying out an armed landing here. You can even follow the signs on the map and follow the ravine on the coast to the mine being mined in the mountains. You should be able to grab some at the mine. gold and silver. However, the benefits of doing so are limited, but it will completely offend the Tokugawa shogunate, which may not be in Haihan's long-term interests.
In Haihan's plan for the Northeast Asia region, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties are the primary target, and Japan is not currently on the list of targets for military attack. In the previous military operations against the Hirado Domain, Haihan did not intend to escalate the war, but carefully controlled the scope of the attack within the Hirado Domain.
The reason for taking such measures is that on the one hand, the Haihan Army has limited troops deployed in Northeast Asia and cannot open multiple battlefields at the same time; on the other hand, there is no fundamental conflict of interest between Haihan and the Japanese shogunate. To seize Japan's wealth through a costly war, it is better to gradually incorporate it into the system constructed by Haihan through trade means, and use the trade scissors gap between industrial countries and agricultural countries to harvest Japan's wealth.
If Japan can be cultivated into one of the sales markets for Haihan industrial products, in the long run it will bring benefits to Haihan that cannot be compared with launching a war. This has already been achieved in countries such as Ming Dynasty and Annan. verify.
The Japanese archipelago has many mountains and little land, and there are not many valuable products, but there is no shortage of gold and silver. As a trading partner, there is no need to worry that the shogunate will be like North Korea, which needs to provide credit or even borrow money to complete the transaction.
Moreover, Japan in the Edo period used the shogunate system as its political system, and the daimyo who ruled the local vassal states were all semi-independent. It was very easy to create an atmosphere of arms race. By then, arms produced by Kaihan would most likely become a best-selling commodity in Japan. The market potential cannot be ignored.
In view of such considerations, Wang Tom would not be able to use force rashly in this operation. The final solution was to put down the boat and send Amakusa Shiro ashore to see if he could use his Japanese identity to get some information from the local area.
Of course, there are certain risks in this kind of mission. The Kaihan fleet has already shown its presence at sea. If the people on the island think that Amakusa Shiro is a spy spying on military affairs, then he may never return.
However, Amakusa Shiro accepted the mission very calmly and took a small boat to the island. He didn't stay long after arriving on the island. After about an hour, he took the boat back to the ship.
"People here are very cautious. Ships that can dock on Sado Island must have special permission from the shogunate. The island will not allow our ship to dock, nor will it provide us with any supplies. If we don't want to If you are considered an intruder, you have no choice but to leave here.”
After Shiro Amakusa returned to the ship, he reported to Tom Wang the information he learned after landing ashore.
This situation is actually reasonable. Since this place is one of the main financial sources of the shogunate, it is reasonable to implement strict control measures here. If any ship could dock at Sado Island and anyone could enter and leave the island freely, then the gold and silver mined on the island would probably be lost in various strange ways.
The management method of the Jinguashi gold mine being mined by Haihan near Jilong Port in Taipei is actually very similar to that of Sado Island, and even stricter in some aspects, so Wang Tom can understand the practices here.
Seeing that he had arrived at the place but could not get in, Wang Tom couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. But in front of his subordinates, he would not show such emotions on his face.
"Let's find another opportunity to visit this place in the future." Wang Tom finally decided to treat the matter with a peaceful attitude and seize the time to continue on the road. Although it was a pity that he could not find out the mining situation of the gold mine on the island, this was just one of the places he visited during the voyage and was not part of the mission of this operation, so he did not have much obsession with it. , I gave up decisively when I couldn’t go.
The fleet continued sailing north from Niigata for three days, passing through Yamagata, Akita, and Aomori, and finally arrived at the Tsugaru Strait at the northern end of Honshu Island. Crossing this strait, which is dozens of miles wide, and continuing north, we reach Hokkaido, which is now covered with snow. If you sail eastward through the Tsugaru Strait, you will enter the Pacific Ocean from the Sea of Japan.
(End of chapter)