The sea voyage between Sasebo Bay and Nagasaki Port is only a hundred miles, but the Haihan warship rarely appears in Nagasaki Port, maybe not once every three to five years.
This was one of the agreements reached when the two countries signed the trade treaty that year. When the Haihan warship visits Nagasaki Port, it must first notify Nagasaki and obtain permission before entering, so as to avoid Haihan's influence in Nagasaki being too great. Shake the shogunate's dominance.
Of course, this kind of agreement is actually just a formality. If Haihan wants to exert influence in Nagasaki, there are many methods available, and it does not need to rely solely on military means.
For example, after Sasebo Bay added commercial functions in the past few years, it quickly took away part of Nagasaki's trade share. At present, a considerable part of Nagasaki's cross-border trade is settled using Haihan banknote currency.
These methods of cutting flesh with soft knives are not much worse than the influence exerted by military means, or even worse.
Shi Diwen led a fleet to visit Nagasaki Port before, which was the only time the Haihan warship appeared there in recent years. At that time, many people thought that this visit would bring peace to Nagasaki for at least two or three years. Unexpectedly, less than a month later, the situation in Nagasaki had undergone earth-shaking changes.
The Haihan Fleet, which was originally a rare sight, actually reappeared in the sight of the people of Nagasaki half a month after Nagasaki's leader Yuta Kosaki disappeared.
Everyone's first thought when they saw the Haihan Fleet reappearing was that Nagasaki was about to change hands again.
If Kaihan wanted to take Nagasaki by military means, neither the shogunate nor the Kumamoto clan, which had just taken over, would be able to resist his offensive.
But two days ago, the Haihan Merchant House was still offering condolences to the Kumamoto Army, and it is said that the great name of the Kumamoto Domain, Tsunato Hosokawa, was also visiting the Sasebo base. Could it be that the two sides failed to reach an agreement and would turn against each other so soon?
However, to everyone's surprise, what this fleet sent was not the Kaihan army preparing to attack Nagasaki Port, but Hosokawa Tsunato who had returned from visiting the Sasebo base.
Also arriving with him was Amakusa Shiro, the number one figure in the Sasebo base.
This was not the first time that Tsunato Hosokawa set foot on the land of Nagasaki Port, but in the past he had come here just to visit and play, but this time he appeared as a conqueror. The goals that previous generations of the Hosokawa family had not been able to achieve were finally achieved after he came to power, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited.
Looking at the retainers and samurai kneeling on the dock, Hosokawa Tsunari suppressed the excitement in his heart and ordered them to stand up in a deep voice, praising these subordinates.
If these subordinates had not performed well during the occupation of Nagasaki, then his process of gaining support from Shi Diwen might not have been so smooth.
Hosokawa Tsunato immediately announced that he would give these people generous rewards, which also included land around Nagasaki Port, which was very generous.
After the two big men landed, they did not stay on the dock for too long. They immediately took a car to the official residence that originally belonged to Yuta Ozaki, and summoned the heads of the agencies stationed in various countries there.
Amakusa Shiro made it clear in front of everyone that Nagasaki was controlled by the Kumamoto clan, which would be conducive to the long-term peace and stability of the local area. As for the negotiations between the Kumamoto clan and the Tokugawa shogunate regarding the ownership of Nagasaki, Kaihan will not be involved and will be resolved by both parties themselves.
Anyone who is not blind should be able to understand the current situation now.
Not only did Kaihan allow the Kumamoto clan to send troops to occupy Nagasaki, but even senior officials of Amakusa Shiro's level came forward to support Hosokawa Tsunato, which shows the strong support for the Kumamoto clan. While Kaihan stated that he would not interfere in the dispute over the ownership of Nagasaki, he also claimed to support the Kumamoto clan. This seemingly contradictory statement was actually a reminder to all parties that except for the shogunate, other forces should not participate in the dispute over the ownership of Nagasaki, otherwise You are just going against Haihan.
After the news spread, all parties were speculating about the virtues of the young Hosokawa Tsunato, who could actually convince the Haihan people to provide him with such strong support.
There are even some outrageous rumors that have begun to appear among the people. For example, Hosokawa Tsunato has actually been adopted by Shi Diwen as his adopted son, so he can get support far beyond that of other famous names.
It is also said that the Kumamoto clan did not participate in the previous annexation of the Kyushu clan, but it was Haihan who deliberately instigated it in exchange for the exclusive treatment of Nagasaki by the Kumamoto clan.
But no matter what kind of rumors they are, Kumamoto Clan and Hosokawa Tsunato are obviously the ones who took advantage of them. As for Yoshin of the Tsushima Domain and Shima Tsumitsu of the Satsuma Domain, these daimyo who originally cooperated closely with Kaihan seem to have never received this level of support.
The Kumamoto clan, which was in crisis of civil strife not long ago, suddenly came from behind and became the most watched force in the Kyushu region.
At the same time, Yuta Kozaki, who escaped during the maritime siege, finally returned to Edo thousands of miles away after going through hardships.
But what Yuta Ozaki brought back to Edo was not the large amount of arms that Tokugawa Ietsuna expected, but only a group of exhausted sailors and soldiers.
After Kosaki Yuta escaped that day, he did not dare to go further north. He first hid somewhere in the Goto Islands for several days. After making sure that the Kyushu clans were not pursuing him, he then detoured southward to Ryukyu to avoid the Satsuma clan's territory and took a trip. A large circle returns to Edo.
Because he was delayed for many days on the way, he arrived in Edo almost at the same time as the news of the change of ownership of Nagasaki.
It’s just that they didn’t bring back any weapons. Yuta Kozaki also lost a large sum of money that the shogunate had drained out of his family. In the end, even Nagasaki, the only territory under actual control in the Kyushu region and one of the important sources of fiscal revenue, also lost it. Being snatched away by a local daimyo, it can be said to be a complete defeat.
Tokugawa Ietsuna was very angry about this, and immediately put Yuta Ozaki into prison and searched all the property of the Ozaki family. But even so, it is far from making up for the losses suffered by the shogunate this time.
After confirming the situation in the Kyushu region, Tokugawa Ietsuna appointed Masato Masuyama as a special envoy to go to Kyushu to meet with the daimyo of each domain and persuade them not to continue to cause rebellion.
Of course, Tokugawa Ietsuna himself also understands that judging from the current situation, such persuasion may not have any effect. The big names in Kyushu made it clear that they did not take the shogunate seriously. Unless they could be defeated on the battlefield, it would be impossible to get these people to spit out the meat they had eaten.
Therefore, while sending Masato Masuyama to Kyushu, Tokugawa Ietsuna also immediately ordered the daimyo from various places to gather troops to prepare for a crusade against these rebellious people in the Kyushu region.
In addition to persuading the feudal lords, Masuyama Masato's trip also had a more important task, which was to clarify Haihan's position and attitude in this matter.
No matter what form the shogunate finally takes to calm down the situation in Kyushu, Haihan is an obstacle that cannot be bypassed. The shogunate must grasp Haihan's thoughts before taking the next step in a targeted manner.