Chapter 2354
Although the Tsugaru Strait is just a not too wide gap between Honshu Island and Hokkaido on the map, after the fleet arrived in this area, it seemed to have immediately entered a completely different world, under the constant rain day and night. Under the influence of sleet, the temperature dropped sharply. During the day, the temperature was already below zero, and at night it was even seven or eight degrees lower. The sailors on duty on the deck have to face the harsh sea breeze, so the body temperature will be even lower.
Fortunately, Wang Tom was prepared for such a situation before setting off. In addition to shortening the sailors' duty time and speeding up the frequency of defense changes, the winter uniforms distributed to the sailors were also prepared for this trip, and they all have relatively strong capabilities. The ability to withstand the cold.
Leather boots, cotton trousers, leather jacket, cotton hat, gloves, and an oilcloth raincoat outside were the standard equipment for sailors at this time, which reduced the exposed part of the body to a minimum. Although such clothing will make people bulky and inconvenient, it can at least ensure that they will not get frostbite in the current low-temperature environment.
As a military observer, Shen Xueyi enjoys the same treatment as Officer Haihan, so he also received a set of such personal equipment. He looked carefully at these quilts, and they seemed to be of better quality than those he had prepared himself. Everyone in the fleet has a set of such warm-weather clothing. You can imagine how much it costs to buy these things. This also gave Shen Xueyi a more intuitive understanding of Haihan's wealth.
The fleet's current location is more than 1,500 miles away from the easternmost coast of North Korea, separated by the entire Sea of Japan. However, the latitude of the Tsugaru Strait is actually almost the same as that of Pyongan Road and Hamgyeong Road in northern North Korea. Therefore, for Shin Xueyi, the climate here is similar to that in the north of the country, but it is still within the scope of adaptability.
However, compared with the cold-resistant equipment of the individual soldiers of the Haihan Army, the Korean army stationed on the northern border is too shabby. If they had the same quality of cold-resistant equipment, Shen Xueyi felt that the northern border would not be casually used by the Qing army. Breached. With nothing to do on the ship, Shen Xueyi asked Wang Tom about the procurement status of these equipment to see if his country's army could gradually change into such a complete set of cold-resistant clothing.
"Most of these winter equipment are ordered from Ming merchants in Shandong. A set of individual equipment costs about twenty taels of silver. However, this money is spent to ensure that the troops still have the due combat effectiveness during this season. We think it's still a good deal. If your country is interested in purchasing these equipment, we will be happy to help connect you." Wang Tom explained to Shen Xueyi frankly.
A considerable number of the Haihan Army stationed in the north are from the south, where the climate is warm, and it is difficult for the Haihan Army to adapt to the low temperature seasons in high latitudes. Therefore, the Haihan Army has spent a lot of thought and energy in recent years to provide cold protection and warmth for the soldiers. ,
Most of the cotton, cotton cloth, cattle and sheepskin, etc. used in the cold-proof equipment of the Haihan Army were produced in North China and Central China. In order to save labor, Hai Hanjun simply outsourced the production of quilts and directly purchased the finished products through Ming merchants. Since the Haihan Army has high requirements for military supplies, the purchase price of these equipment will naturally not be too low. Not to mention North Korea, even the Ming Dynasty had few troops that could reach such a level of equipment.
When Shen Xueyi heard the price, he secretly backed down. He knew that given his family's financial situation, it would be impossible to promote this practice in the military in the short term. At most, he could only distribute these equipment to officers at all levels.
But just distributing such equipment to officers will not effectively improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. Shen Xueyi can only secretly lament that if you have money, you can travel all over the world, but without money, it is difficult to move forward. Such combat effectiveness requires a large amount of wealth to transform, and your country It is indeed impossible to imitate.
Shen Xueyi had no choice but to thank Wang Tom for his offer to help with the matchmaking, and said that he would have to apply to the court after returning to China and wait until he had a clue.
Hokkaido Island is the second largest island in the Japanese archipelago, second only to Honshu Island in area. However, Hokkaido at this time was not completely under Japanese rule. During this period, Hokkaido was also called Ezo Land by Japan, which means the place where barbarians lived. The indigenous people on the island are the Ainu, who make a living by fishing and hunting and are not good at farming, so they are regarded as barbarians by Japan. The Ainu are a mixed race of Mongoloid and Europa races. Their appearance characteristics are obviously different from those of East Asian races. On the contrary, they have some typical characteristics of Europa races.
Although the Japanese have continued to carry out colonial activities in southern Hokkaido since the Muromachi period, they have been attacked by indigenous people and the scale of colonization is very limited. It was not until the end of the 16th century, just a few decades ago, that Matsumae Keihiro built Matsumae Castle on the coast of the southern end of Hokkaido. With the support of the shogunate, he established the southern area as Matsumae Domain, initially realizing the shogunate's control of southern Hokkaido. actual control of the region, and monopolized trade between Japan and the Ainu tribe.
In the current era, Matsumae Castle basically symbolizes the northernmost area controlled by the Japanese shogunate. Going further north to Sakhalin Island, most of them are areas controlled by the Ainu tribe.
From a certain perspective, Matsumae Castle can be regarded as the dividing point between the civilized world and the wild world. Now that he has arrived at this place, Wang Tom doesn't want to miss it and plans to stop by to take a look at this coastal castle.
If we look at the location of Songqian City according to Haihan's criteria for selecting a colonial port, it will be unqualified in any case. There is neither a natural harbor nor a plain area suitable for agricultural farming. In Wang Tom's opinion, the reason why the Matsumae family chose to build a city here was simply because it was close to Honshu Island.
There is no harbor here, so it is naturally difficult to build a large seaport and develop maritime trade on a large scale. Without the plains, local agricultural products would not be enough to support more immigrants settling here. Matsumae Castle faces the Tsugaru Strait to the south and mountains stretching for hundreds of miles to the north. There is basically no space suitable for urban development around it, and there are no high-value products. It relies on barter transactions with the Ainu tribe in the north. Support finances. In addition, this place is more than two thousand miles away from some of the most prosperous cities in Japan. It would be damned if it could develop.
Still more than ten miles away from the coastline, Wang Tom used his binoculars to see Matsumae Castle standing on the gentle slope of the coast. This is a typical Japanese castle, a multi-story fortress built on a stone base. Its shape is quite similar to the Hirado Castle that Wang Tom saw before on Hirado Island.
However, Hirado Castle was destroyed by fire a long time ago. The feudal lord, the Matsuura clan, never rebuilt Hirado Castle in order to show peace, so when the Kaihan Army attacked Hirado, only the ruins of the foundation were left. On the other hand, Matsumae Castle more fully reflects the style of a Japanese castle.
After getting closer, it is not difficult to find that Matsumae Castle is very close to the coastline. If artillery is deployed on the city wall on the sea side, it can basically be used as a coastal defense fort. When the Hirado Port was first attacked, fortifications such as forts were built on the local coast.
However, the Hirado Domain's artillery was first provided by Europeans, and later it gradually mastered the manufacturing technology and produced some of its own. But it’s hard to say whether a place as remote as Hokkaido can obtain large-scale weapons such as Western-style artillery. Judging from the field of vision of Matsumae Castle, I believe that the arrival of the Haihan fleet should have been discovered. Wang Tom is still not sure whether the owner here is willing to receive foreign visitors, but he has probably aroused the other party's vigilance, so he did not approach the coast where Matsumae Castle is located in a menacing manner. He just sent an expedition-class warship first. Go offshore to explore suitable places for the fleet to anchor.
Amakusa Shiro once again took on the task of envoy, taking a small boat to land a few miles away from Matsumae Castle, and tried to contact local officials.
This time, he did not return without success like Sado Island. Instead, he brought back good news. The lord of Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Kimihiro, was willing to meet with Tom Wang in Matsumae Castle. Of course, Amakusa Shiro's purpose of coming to the other party was just to carry out trade activities locally, and he did not mention the true purpose of this fleet at all.
Although it was risky to go ashore and enter Matsumae Castle to visit the local feudal lord, Wang Tom decided to go there himself. He believed that this place was very far away from the political center of Japan, and he may not have understood the war between Haihan and the Hirado clan in the first half of the year, so he should not have too much hostility towards Haihan. And with such a huge fleet waiting on the beach, the other party should not act rashly.
Of course, out of caution, Wang Tom still brought weapons after a long time. He installed two USP45 automatic pistols in the holsters on his left and right ribs, and asked all the accompanying guards to use revolvers made in Sanya. Such short weapons can be hidden in clothing and will not be as conspicuous as rifles.
Before setting off, Wang Tom politely asked Shen Xueyi if he was willing to go with him. Unexpectedly, Shen Xueyi immediately agreed without hesitation: "After staying on the ship for so many days, I just want to go ashore for some activities. As long as the general doesn't find it too troublesome." That’s it.”
Since it was an official visit, there was no need to avoid taboos. Wang Tom asked the flagship to anchor one mile away from the coast, and then took Amakusa Shiro, Shen Xueyi, and a dozen guards in two small boats to arrive at the dock south of Matsumae Castle. . At this time, Matsumae Gongguang had sent several retainers to wait on the shore. After greeting Wang Tom, he invited him to sit on the prepared sedan and go to Matsumae Castle.
This Japanese-style sedan is called a cage. Only nobles can ride it in Japan. However, the space of this thing is very small. It is like a box. You cannot sit in it as comfortably as a Chinese-style sedan. You can only sit cross-legged or hug your legs. inside. Moreover, the sedan relies on a wooden pole at the top, and the stability is not ideal.
If Wang Tom was allowed to make his own choice, he would definitely rather walk to Songqian Castle than take this carriage that seems to have extremely poor comfort. It's not that far anyway, and it only takes a few minutes to walk there. But Shiro Amakusa reminded him that this was considered a very high courtesy in Japan and it was best not to refuse, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and get into the cage. But with his tall body, he couldn't sit up straight after getting in. He had to bend down slightly to prevent his head from hitting the top of the cage.
Two laborers, one behind the other, used their strength at the same time to lift up the cage, and then everyone gathered around and headed towards Matsumae Castle not far away.
When we get closer, we can see that Matsumae Castle is actually quite large in scale. There are defensive trenches built around the castle, which may also be used as a moat during the rainy season. The tall castle is surrounded by many lower buildings. These buildings are all built on stone bases more than ten feet thick. There are only a few gaps on the outward side, which can also play a role in wartime. The role of city walls.
However, what reassured everyone in Haihan was that it was confirmed that there were no fortifications such as forts and crenels on the side facing the sea. It seemed that Matsumae Castle did not have heavy weapons such as Western artillery, so naturally it could not threaten the anchorage. The Haihan Fleet on the nearby sea.
After the group entered Matsumae Castle, they stopped in an open space in front of the castle. Tom Wang got out of the cage and thought to himself that the distance was not far away. It would be really uncomfortable if he had to travel ten or eight miles on this thing. These Japanese nobles really don't know how to enjoy it, so they have to find a way to sell the box carriages made in Haihan here.
The retainers of the Matsumae clan led Tom Wang and his entourage through a wooden door and arrived at a rather straight courtyard. Then they asked Tom Wang's accompanying guards to stay in the courtyard, and Tom Wang went in on his own to meet with the feudal lord.
Wang Tom immediately said that he would bring two people in with him, one being Shiro Amakusa who would serve as the translator, and Shen Xueyi as his personal attendant. The retainers were undecided and went in to ask for instructions again before agreeing to Wang Tom's request.
The Lord of the Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Kohiro, was a middle-aged man. Wang Tom noticed that there were obvious burn marks on his face and he had difficulty speaking. There is a young man sitting on his knees next to him, his appearance is vaguely similar, he should be a descendant of his family.
Amakusa Shiro translated what the other party said to Wang Tom. It turned out that Matsumae Kimihiro was injured in a fire last year. The burns on his body have not healed, and his physical condition has been greatly affected. He has difficulty moving, so he cannot go out to welcome him. Tom Wang can understand. The young man next to him is his second son Matsuda Ujihiro, who will also be the successor to the position of Lord of Matsumae Domain.
Seeing that the other party did not show any hostility, Wang Tom took the initiative to explain his purpose of visit to him, saying that he was here to visit on behalf of the Haihan Kingdom and was willing to establish long-term trade relations with Matsumae Domain.
As expected, Matsumae Kohiro didn't know much about the situation in the outside world, so he asked where Kaihan Kingdom was located, how far it was from Matsumae Domain, and what special products it had.
(End of chapter)