Although there has been no news about Nagasaki's enthronement of Kosaki Yuta for several days, and various rumors unfavorable to the shogunate have been rampant, Nagasaki Port has continued the stable situation since its opening in 1570 and did not fall into chaos because of the disappearance of the consul. .
Business stores in various countries are still open for business as usual, and it seems that their business has not been affected at all by the disappearance of Yuta Kosaki.
The Portuguese and Dutch had been doing business in Nagasaki for a long time, so they were not very nervous about the possibility of war in the Kyushu region. In their words, no matter who controls Nagasaki, they will still have to do business with foreign countries. If Nagasaki changes its owner, perhaps the trade environment will be improved compared to the Tokugawa Shogunate.
In short, businessmen from the West do not think the current situation is a bad thing, but there are too many people who want to capture Nagasaki now, and they will not rush to express their position at this time. It is safest to continue to wait and see. practices.
As for the Han Chinese living in Nagasaki, there was no trouble at all. Regardless of whether they have officially joined Haihan, as long as they are of Han origin, they are now protected by Haihan. No one in Kyushu dares to provoke them easily.
When Han Chinese merchant ships go to any feudal domain in Kyushu, local officials will treat them as guests, and even the daimyo will personally come to receive them, and it is not uncommon for them to send troops to escort them throughout the journey.
Even if someone wants to attack Nagasaki, they only need to hang Haihan's two-color flag at the door, and this amulet can protect the safety of the whole family.
So even though there are rumors that Yuta Kosaki will not come back and that Nagasaki Port will probably be taken over by a local daimyo, most people still think that this is not a big deal.
When Yuta Kosaki left Nagasaki, he took almost all of his capable generals and more than half of the garrison with him. This simply cleared all obstacles for latecomers to capture Nagasaki.
Therefore, when the Kumamoto clan's armed fleet sailed into Nagasaki Port with great swagger, it did not encounter any organized resistance. Even a symbolic warning did not occur, and Kumamoto's army successfully landed ashore.
Just like what Tsunato Hosokawa boasted to Shi Diwen about Haikou, the Kumamoto clan had indeed made very detailed preparations to seize Nagasaki.
The Kumamoto Army's goal was very clear. After landing, they did not loot the city. Instead, they went directly to the official residence, barracks and warehouses in Nagasaki Port to control these important units first.
At this time, the local government was already empty, and no one was in charge. Those who could run had already run away at the sound of wind. In addition, Kumamoto clan's internal agents instigated rebellion in advance, which led to the hundreds of soldiers left here by Yuta Kosaki to surrender without trying to resist.
Foreign merchants in Nagasaki Port basically suffered no losses during this short military operation. Only a few merchants affiliated with the shogunate were visited one by one to inspect their properties after Kumamoto's army took control of the situation.
Now that we have taken over the shogunate's territory, we will naturally not let go of the various properties under the shogunate's name. However, the purpose of the Kumamoto clan was to take over Nagasaki instead of just grabbing it and leaving. They would also govern here in the future, so the appearance should not be too ugly to avoid being looked down upon by local foreign businessmen.
At the same time, the Kumamoto Army posted notices throughout Nagasaki, announcing that the occupation of Nagasaki was only to protect the personnel and property of the Kumamoto Domain, and would not interfere with local commercial operations, let alone block the port, and all rules would remain as usual.
Although the excuse is high-sounding, everyone understands that Nagasaki has actually changed hands, and the Kumamoto clan will probably not take the initiative to return this place to the shogunate.
However, it is not certain whether the ownership of Nagasaki will be changed from "Tokugawa" to "Kumamoto". After all, the Kumamoto clan is not the only one who is eyeing Nagasaki. It is hard to say whether they can hold it after occupying it. Therefore, the vast majority of merchants did not show much enthusiasm for the new owner of Nagasaki, and kept a restrained distance. No one was sure whether the Kumamoto Army would be driven out by another army in two days.
It only took the Kumamoto Army one day to basically control the main area of Nagasaki Port. During this period, no large-scale armed conflicts occurred, which can be said to have minimized the impact.
However, during this period, Kumamoto's army arrested a lot of people, most of whom were members of the shogunate. Among them were officials and nobles who had come to Nagasaki from other small vassals in Kyushu to escape the war.
The next day, some official personnel of the Kumamoto clan took the initiative to visit the institutions of several powerful lords in Kyushu in Nagasaki, informed them of the current situation, and asked them to inform their respective masters that the Kumamoto clan had included Nagasaki. territory range.
This way of declaring sovereignty is also extremely bold. After all, the Kumamoto Domain’s occupation of Nagasaki has not yet been recognized by any party. Other Kyushu daimyo can also attack Nagasaki under the banner of quelling the rebellion at this time and break up with the Kumamoto Domain. Arm wrestling.
But in Hosokawa Tsunatori's plan, he saw that this winter was the last time for each family to prepare for war. With the shogunate as a formidable enemy, no one would be willing to fight with their neighbors at this juncture.
While most people were still prepared to continue to wait and see the situation, Haihan's business office in Nagasaki took action and took the initiative to provide some supplies to the Kumamoto Army stationed in Nagasaki in the name of the labor force.
Some people with a keen sense of smell immediately realized that this was Kaihan expressing his position and recognizing the Kumamoto clan's control of Nagasaki.
Of course, this statement from Haihan Commercial Center was not an accident, but a telegram from the Sasebo base and an order directly issued by Shi Diwen.
Since the actual performance of the Kumamoto Army is better than what Hosokawa Tsunato promised before, Shi Diwen does not mind helping him again so that the Kumamoto clan can take over local affairs in Nagasaki more smoothly.
Sure enough, when all parties noticed that Haihan had clearly taken a stand, they followed suit. Commercial offices in the Netherlands, Portugal, Annan, Korea and other countries also responded one after another, expressing their attitude to the Kumamoto clan in the form of labor force.
After various countries have successively expressed their support for the Kumamoto clan, several other powerful clans in Kyushu still want to seize the opportunity from the tiger's mouth, so they have to think carefully.
Whether they can defeat the Kumamoto clan is one thing. After the defeat, whether they can win the support of the countries headed by Haihan is the most important thing. Otherwise, just grabbing the Nagasaki Port without retaining the corresponding cross-border trade would not make much sense.
The daimyo of each clan were surprised when they received the news, but they soon thought that the matter must be related to the visit of Tsunato Hosokawa, the daimyo of Kumamoto clan, to the Sasebo base. Haihan was willing to stand up to support the Kumamoto clan. It was probably because Tsunato Hosokawa made some extraordinary conditions to Shi Diwen.
Some people secretly regretted that the last time they met Shi Diwen, they should have taken the initiative to talk about the ownership of Nagasaki. Thinking about the conditions that the Kumamoto clan can afford, I can probably do it myself. I missed such a good opportunity in vain. Now if we want to take action against Nagasaki, we have to add Haihan to the forces we need to worry about, so the difficulty is even greater than before.