Chapter 2696
The official institution established by the Tsushima Domain in Busan was called the "Japanese Pavilion". Since the two countries resumed trade in 1609, the Japanese Pavilion has become a symbol of Japanese interests in Busan. Various trading activities conducted by Japanese merchants in Busan were under the supervision of the Waguan, which in fact was equivalent to placing these trading activities under the control of Ma Fan.
Most of the goods exported by North Korea and Japan to each other need to be shipped to Asu Bay on Tsushima Island first. After completing inspection and tax payment procedures, they are then shipped to the next destination.
Such a bizarre trade method is certainly not suitable for the growing scale of cross-border trade in Busan Port, and it has also greatly reduced the benefits that North Korea deserves. But if the Joseon court stepped forward to put pressure on Tsushima, it would be obvious that the levels of the two sides were not equal, but if they had to conduct trade negotiations with the equal Tokugawa shogunate, they would face a situation that would take too long and be difficult to operate, so they would do such dirty work. The tiring errands ultimately had to be completed by local officials.
But the problem is that the local government in Busan does not have enough weight. Although Wen Zhihong took the initiative to initiate several trade negotiations, the Japanese response was relatively cold and they just dealt with the matter. In the end, no decent results were achieved. This is of course easy to understand. After all, Wen Zhihong's purpose is very clear, which is to ask the Japanese to give up profits, but Wen Zhihong can't come up with any valuable exchange conditions, so the Japanese will naturally not agree to his request.
Wen Zhihong was also helpless about this. The negotiation space given by the court was very limited, and he was also a clever woman who could not make a meal without rice. Fortunately, the imperial court also knew that it was not easy to change the trade rules that had lasted for more than two hundred years, so it did not set a time limit for this task. Wen Zhihong could have enough time to slowly think of a solution.
Until the arrival of the Haihan mission, Wen Zhihong finally saw hope of changing the status quo. Haihan is currently the main trading partner of Busan Port, and Haihan merchants have a large-scale industrial layout in the Busan area, which is large enough to affect the trade pattern of Busan Port. If this giant Buddha could be brought out to suppress the situation, it would undoubtedly be much easier to put pressure on the Japanese.
It just so happened that the Haihan delegation requested the demarcation of autonomous zones after the arrival of the Haihan delegation. After some bargaining, Wen Zhihong finally added the holding of a tripartite trade meeting to the exchange conditions, and this was the hard-won temporary opportunity. meeting.
Although it was a temporary arrangement, the level of the attendees was indeed quite high. Wen Zhihong attended as a governor representing North Korea, while the Haihan delegation was attended by Tao Hongfang, Ning Zijing, Bai Letong and Zhu Zian. . As for the Japanese Japanese Museum, the owner Zong Yutai is said to be the half-brother of Zong Yizhen, the current lord of Tsushima. He can undoubtedly represent the interests of Tsushima.
The Japanese Japanese Museum has moved several times in history and is currently located on Yeongdo Island in the harbor of Busan Port. After more than 40 years of continuous renovation and expansion, the Japanese Pavilion has become the largest building complex on the island.
When they first arrived at Busan Port, Tao Hongfang and others saw the main building of the Japanese Pavilion, a towering Japanese castle, from a distance on the ship. Rather than calling it a Japanese pavilion, it would be more appropriate to call it a Japanese city. Outside this castle are ordinary commercial institutions and civilian residential areas.
However, because it was built on an island with limited freshwater resources, the castle did not dig a moat or other defensive fortifications on the outside. However, it was still built according to the layout of a standard Japanese castle. It seems that this place was not regarded as a pure castle. commercial organizations to use.
"Now I finally understand why the Busan government said it would be more troublesome to arrest the Japanese criminals on Young Island. This place is not a business store, it is clearly a fortress! If there are thousands of people stationed here, Army, that wouldn't surprise me at all."
After landing on the island by boat, Bai Letong couldn't help but sigh when he saw the true form of the castle.
The Japanese built such a fortress on Yeongdo Island. It is self-evident who they want to guard against. Of course, the local government had to face a lot of pressure if they wanted to come here to arrest prisoners. Later, they had to bite the bullet and come here to capture several Japanese ronin, which was not easy.
Tao Hongfang said: "North Korea and Japan have fought several times in history, and the Japanese embassy has been opened and closed. Whenever the situation becomes tense, the first to suffer is the Japanese embassy. No wonder the Japanese are on guard." Bai Le Tong argued: "But this is the territory of North Korea after all. It would be too arrogant to build a fortress so blatantly."
Tao Hongfang said: "I guess the Koreans have long disliked this place, but they just have no way to deal with it... Zijing, what do you think?"
Ning Zijing said: "I think the existence of this castle is not a bad thing."
Bai Letong wondered: "What's the point of this?"
Ning Zijing explained: "If you think about it, the existence of this castle will make the North Koreans feel pressure, and they have no way to solve the problem, so they will rely more on us. Just like this time they invited us to attend the tripartite talks for the same purpose In order to put pressure on the Japanese. Without such pressure, the Koreans would not necessarily compromise with us so quickly.”
Since this was a very formal official meeting, the Japanese Museum did not care much and sent a motorcade to greet it in advance. What surprised Tao Hongfang and others was that the carriages used by the Japanese Museum were all made in Haihan. They even found the mark of "Zhoushan Carriage Factory" in the carriage without any difficulty.
Although this kind of popular carriage is not as good as the customized carriage produced in Sanya in terms of manufacturing technology and riding comfort, it is advantageous in that it is relatively cheap, has a short order cycle, and its glass window design is also quite high-end. Therefore, it has been gradually adopted in recent years. A lot of them were exported to North Korea. Unexpectedly, even the Japanese took a fancy to this kind of carriage.
Zhu Zian sighed: "When I was in Zhoushan, I was curious about the price of this kind of carriage. They were all over three hundred yuan. If the car is equipped with all the facilities, it could even be around five hundred yuan. It must be across the sea. The sales price up to this point is much higher, but the Japanese are willing to spend money and bought so many cars in this place alone.”
Tao Hongfang said: "Zian, you don't know how profitable cross-border trade is. The Japanese are not willing to spend it, but they don't care about it at all. The revenue of this Japanese restaurant in a year must be more than The Busan government still has a lot of money to decorate, so it shouldn’t be a big expense for them.”
Zhu Zian said: "There are so many? I looked through the information before going down, but there is very little mention of what kind of business they do."
Tao Hongfang said: "What Japan exports to North Korea is mainly copper, gold, silver, sulfur, as well as dyes, spices, etc. obtained through the southern Ryukyus. What North Korea sells to Japan is silk fabrics, books, ginseng, The main products are furs and other commodities. If you choose any of these transactions, the profits will be huge.”
(End of chapter)