Chapter 3521
The panic and uneasiness shown by Mitsushige Nabeshima after the debate was actually expected by the Haihan Executive Committee. After all, compared to the shogunate, the local forces in Kyushu are considered weak. Without the support of Haihan, they have almost no chance of defeating the shogunate.
Once Kaihan's attitude wavers, it may be a disaster for them. That's why Nabeshima Mitsushige was so nervous and asked to see Kaihan's senior officials before spending the night.
Japanese affairs have always been handled by Shi Diwen, so in the end he had to step in to do the appeasement work.
After Nabeshima Mitsushige saw Shi Diwen, he immediately fell to the ground and bowed his head, assuming a pleading posture, but did not ask for it.
"Nabeshima-sama, sit down and talk!"
It seems that the stimulating effect of arranging Sakai Tadaki's appearance has been achieved, and the Saga Domain must be encouraged again. Shi Diwen still hopes that Nabeshima Mitsushige will do things well, but it can't damage his confidence too much.
After Nabeshima Mitsushige got up from the ground and sat down, Shi Diwen took the initiative to explain why Sakai Tadakichi appeared at the Sasebo base without waiting for him to ask questions.
In Shi Diwen's description, Haihan only maintained a minimum level of diplomatic relations with the shogunate to deal with trade issues between the two countries.
The shogunate's proposal to send people to visit the Sasebo base was actually a recent matter. The shogunate's reason was to increase the scale of trade with Kaihan and sent people to Sasebo for face-to-face negotiations.
The reason why the Saga Domain was not notified in advance was because Sakai Tadakiyoshi had only arrived in Sasebo the day before yesterday, and at that time Nabeshima Mitsushige had already taken people to sea to wait for the expedition fleet to the Goto Islands, so it was inconvenient to deliver the information.
As for arranging for Sakai Tadaki to speak in public, Shi Diwen believed that this was not a big deal and would not affect Haihan's support for the Kyushu vassals.
"Nabeshima-sama, if you think about it carefully, if the multi-national inspection team only hears your voice here, they will inevitably suspect that our country is unfair and favors the Kyushu vassals. If you want to win international support in the future, you won't be able to do that. Easy.”
"Can Sakai Tadaki say a few words to reverse the current situation? If they are sure of defeating the Kyushu Allied Forces, why should they argue with you? I don't think there is any need to panic. In fact, the shogunate is already fierce and evil, so they can only pass This is a way to intimidate you.”
Shi Diwen's words were very encouraging, but they did not completely dispel Nabeshima Mitsushige's doubts.
In Nabeshima Mitsushige's view, he did not believe any of the reasons for temporarily arranging a visit because it was inconvenient to notify him because he was going to sea. With Haihan's acting style, how could such a rough operation be possible?
The most real reason is probably that Haihan wanted to do business on both sides and continue to maintain trade relations with the shogunate.
The news that Masato Masuyama, who represented the shogunate, spent a lot of money to purchase a large number of ships in Zhoushan had spread in the last few days of the forum, and Nabeshima Mitsushige had also learned about it.
Since the shogunate is still spending a lot of money to purchase armaments from Haihan, of course Haihan will not take the initiative to offend the sponsor. Nabeshima Mitsushige can understand these things. He just needs confirmation that Haihan's support for Kyushu will not change.
Nabeshima Mitsushige said: "Master Shi, we are about to go to war with the shogunate. Debating right and wrong with the shogunate at this time is very likely to affect the morale of our military. If your country supports us as always, it should first ensure that the Kyushu coalition forces can be on the battlefield. The only way is to defeat the shogunate!" Shi Diwen said with a smile: "Our country has been helping the Kyushu vassals secretly train new armies for several years, and the battle plan has been reviewed by us. If we still can't defeat the shogunate army, then I, Sasebo, will The base should simply close its doors!”
After hearing this, Nabeshima Mitsushige felt a little calmer.
Before the official confrontation with the shogunate, all the great names in Kyushu were actually very nervous. After all, the Tokugawa shogunate had unified Japan for half a century, and the hierarchical shogunate system had long prevented most people from having the courage to fight against the shogunate. Defeating the powerful shogunate army on the battlefield was a goal that was unthinkable before the Kyushu vassals received military aid from Haihan.
After some gentle words of comfort, Shi Diwen finally convinced Nabeshima Mitsushige to take the reassurance and go back happily.
After seeing off Nabeshima Mitsushige, Shi Diwen called the signal corpsman, dictated the instructions, and ordered him to immediately send a report to the Edo embassy.
The arrangement for Sakai Tadayoshi to come to Sasebo was handled by Ma Boran of the Edo Embassy. As for the progress of the negotiations in Sasebo, it is naturally the most time-effective way to send it to Edo by telegram.
As for how to stimulate the shogunate's fighting spirit, it depends on Ma Boran's operations in Edo.
If the plan to create a civil war in Japan was finally successfully implemented, then Ma Boran, who was in Edo, would also be indispensable. It would be a logical arrangement for him to be transferred back to China in a year or two to inherit the business results of his father, Malik, in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.
The next day, the host organized the delegation members to visit various facilities at the Sasebo base. Most of them visited Haihan's overseas military base for the first time, so they were full of curiosity about it.
Of course, many people are puzzled. Since Japan's long-term national policy is to close itself off and not even want to deal with foreign countries, why does Haihan invest so many resources here to build a huge military base?
Now, as a witness, Shiro Amakusa had to educate the guests about the grievances between Haihan and Japan in the early years. It was also the first time for many people to hear that Haihan had already sent troops to Kyushu and dealt with local forces twenty years ago.
Amakusa Shiro said that the purpose of Kaihan sending troops was to wipe out the pirate gangs protected by the Hirado Domain. Many people naturally thought of Kaihan's military operation in the Strait of Malacca last year. They also sent troops under the same banner and then occupied it. Several islands at the western end of the Strait of Malacca.
In comparison, this approach is basically the same as Haihan's approach in Kyushu. It turns out that it has long been the tradition of Haihan's army to occupy territory in the name of fighting pirates.
There is even a small museum specially built in the Sasebo base to display various commemorative items from the conquest of the Hirado Domain and the construction of the base.
The Hirado Domain no longer exists, and its territory has now become part of the Saga Domain. It was precisely because of the collapse of the Hirado clan that the Kyushu clans did not dare to interfere with Kaihan's entry into Sasebo Bay.
While visiting, Su Yongshan said to his father Su Keyi: "In this way, the Haihan people don't seem to be that interested in overseas territories. They clearly captured the Hirado Domain, but they took the initiative to give up taking it for themselves."
Su Keyi said: "Then your kid is wrong. Haihan gave up the occupation just because the environment of Hirado Island is not suitable for development. As a port, the conditions are far less good than Sasebo Bay. In addition, when Haihan withdrew his troops from Hirado Island, he They were all captured and all the locals were forcibly transported away. Before leaving, a fire was set on Hirado Castle and burned down. ”