Shi Diwen's mission to Japan was somewhat confidential, so he deliberately kept a low profile when leaving Hangzhou and did not arrange a public trip ceremony. Even several members of the executive committee only greeted Shi Diwen in advance and did not go to the riverside pier to say goodbye.
Most locals didn't even know that Shi Diwen left Hangzhou quietly.
The fleet departing from Hangzhou consisted of only four ships, one was Shi Diwen's ship, a troop ship carried his guard company, and two exploration-class warships served as escort missions.
However, this lineup is not the fleet visiting Japan. When it arrives at the Zhoushan Islands, another fleet will join it.
By then, the East China Sea Fleet's most advanced warship, the Glory-class first ship Zhoushan, will also join the fleet visiting Japan.
This is not only a matter of ensuring the safety of the trip, Shi Diwen also wants to take this opportunity to show Haihan's latest combat power to the rulers of the southwestern vassals in order to shock their hearts.
One day later, the fleet arrived at Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, where it will stay for two days to complete material replenishment and re-formation.
Shi Diwen also took this time to inspect some official institutions on the island.
Zhoushan Islands is the place where the Donghai Region first started. So far, many important institutions in the Donghai Region are still located here and have not been moved to Hangzhou.
In addition to the Dinghaiport military base, there are two military academies here that continuously train officers for the land and sea armies of the East China Sea Region, the Maritime Safety Administration that manages shipping affairs in the East China Sea, the largest maritime trade distribution market in the eastern part of the mainland, and other countries Numerous trade and diplomatic institutions are located here.
The existence of these institutions is closely related to the special geographical location of the Zhoushan Islands. Their roles are irreplaceable and will not change because the administrative center of the Donghai Region is moved to Hangzhou. After Shi Diwen went to Hangzhou at the beginning of the year, he has not returned to Zhoushan for more than half a year. He just used these two days to inspect his traditional territory.
When leaving Zhoushan Military Port, the size of Shi Diwen's fleet had increased several times compared to when it departed from Hangzhou.
In addition to the Zhoushan, there is also a majesty-class battleship and six other warships joining the fleet here, forming a complete combat fleet.
In addition, there are six comprehensive supply ships and four private merchant ships belonging to Shi Diwen accompanying the fleet. In addition to the fleet's supplies, these ships also carry various commodities destined for sale in Japan.
The sailing of a fleet of this size naturally aroused the attention of the people of Zhoushan, but it was not until Shi Diwen led the fleet to leave Zhoushan that local rumors gradually began to spread, saying that Shi Diwen went to Japan after this brief inspection.
Four days later, Shi Diwen's fleet successfully arrived at Sasebo Bay.
Sasebo Base Commander Amakusa Shiro, Civil Affairs Officer Yuan Wendong, Trade Director Yang Tianlei and others were already waiting on the dock for the arrival of Shi Diwen and his party.
Also coming to greet Shi Diwen were some officials sent by the vassals in the Kyushu region.
The Kyushu region of Japan is divided into nine countries: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Bunzen, Bungo, Hizen, Higo, Osumi, Hyuga, and Satsuma. This is also the origin of the name Kyushu.
However, this old-style system of ordering the country has long lost its original meaning, and it has gradually evolved from an administrative division unit into a geographical concept. By the time of the Tokugawa shogunate, the shogunate system had quickly replaced the order system. The "vassal" originally under the "country" had become a real small vassal state. The highest official of each domain, the daimyo, was the actual local ruler. who.
The Kyushu region, which is only one-third larger than the island of Taiwan, now has more than thirty vassals, large and small, including areas such as Nagasaki that are directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate. You can imagine how complicated the situation is.
However, it is not unreasonable to describe the civil war in Japan during the Warring States Period as village-level fighting, as can be seen from the construction of the feudal government offices.
These vassals were divided into three levels. Only the daimyo of the highest level were qualified to build their own castles, such as the Hirado Castle built during the heyday of the Hirado Domain. And this so-called "city" is not the same concept at all as the cities at all levels built by prefectures and counties in China. It is just a castle that is relatively tall compared to civilian residences.
The next-level daimyo could only build a walled stronghold, called a residence. The solidity of this kind of residence is even far inferior to the village-level fortresses built by landlord organizations in China during the same period.
As for the lowest-level daimyo, their residence is called a "Jinya", and it cannot even have the outermost wall that plays a basic defensive role, which can be described as very shabby.
The ruler's seat is only of this level, and the armed forces it possesses are even more conceivable, ranging from hundreds to thousands.
Even the shogunate, which ruled the entire country of Japan, had only a standing army of just over 20,000 people, and the total number of troops it could mobilize in wartime was less than 100,000.
Shi Diwen was well aware of these situations, so he could confidently assure the Executive Committee that the armed forces of the Sasebo base alone could intervene in the domestic situation in Japan.
Shi Diwen didn't even have the interest to deal with those small vassal lords whose level was not high enough. These rural armed leaders may not even be as good as county magistrates in China, and they are unable to set up permanent offices in Haihan. There is really no need to waste time and resources to support them.
A vassal state that is truly qualified to be on the table and able to deal with Shi Diwen must have at least one of its own strength or geographical advantages.
For example, Tsushima Domain, located in the middle of the Tsushima Strait, is an island with few natural resources, but because it is located right between Korea and Japan, it has unique conditions for engaging in cross-border maritime trade, so it has become one of the targets of Haihan's wooing.
Or the Kagoshima Domain located at the southernmost tip of Kyushu. Its rulers, the Shimazu family, have not only controlled the entire Satsuma Kingdom where they are located, but have also almost annexed the neighboring countries of Hyuga and Osumi. Their strength is among the Kyushu kingdoms. It can be said that Fanzhong is second to none and is naturally qualified to become Haihan's partner.
Shi Diwen did not intend to waste time visiting the relatively low-level vassal states. If these famous people were informed and interested, they could just come to the Sasebo base to see them.
Only with a few truly important partners, Shi Diwen will go to the local area to meet with the famous names depending on the situation.
Of course, before that, the first thing Shi Diwen had to complete was an inspection of the Sasebo base.
As Haihan's largest overseas military base in the East China Sea, the Sasebo base currently houses a fully equipped combat fleet and an army battalion with artillery staff, with more than 3,000 combat personnel.
As time goes by, various supporting facilities here have become increasingly complete, and many locals have been attracted to settle in Sasebo Bay, and it has gradually acquired the atmosphere of a seaport city.