At the northwest end of Hirado Island, there is Hirado Port, which is the westernmost port city of the Wonu Kingdom.

Before the Tokugawa shogunate expelled the Portuguese and issued a lock-down order, this small port of Hirado prospered due to maritime trade and gathered a large number of maritime merchants traveling from north to south. Among them were Koreans, Chinese, Portuguese and

Dutch.

The reason why Yang Zhen knew about Hirado Castle a long time ago was because Zheng Chenggong was born in Hirado Castle.

I recall that back then, the Chinese pirate king Li Dan, who was at the height of his power, once settled on Hirado Island. When he was at his most powerful, he commanded hundreds of ships and had a crowd of tens of thousands, almost overwhelming everyone.

Even the daimyo on Hirado Island, the Matsuura family, the lords of the Hirado clan, could only marry their daughters and obey orders.

Zheng Chenggong's father, Zheng Zhilong, was Li Dan's younger brother at that time.

Later, because Zheng Zhilong was good-looking and spoke the barbarian language, he was valued by Li Dan and considered his adopted son. From then on, he became prosperous and even married the daughter of Tagawa Shichizaemon, a retainer of the lord of the Hirado clan.

And Zheng Chenggong was one of the sons born to Zheng Chenggong by this Tagawa family.

Therefore, Yang Zhen also knew that on the side of the Wonu Kingdom close to him, apart from Nagasaki Port, Hirado Port was undoubtedly the most prosperous.

"Oh, tell me, what is the current situation on Hirado Island?"

"When I returned to the Governor, I discovered that Hirado Castle in Hirado Port had been burned to the ground by fire at some point. I heard from someone that the plague in the Wonu Kingdom came from Hirado Island, so I was worried about the island.

There is still a plague up there, but I don’t dare to send my brothers up there.”

Facing Yang Zhen's inquiry, the general manager named Wang Defa immediately reported the situation he had discovered at that time.

"I have been on Yingzhou Island for almost a year. I have long heard from the merchants who came and went about how prosperous Hirado is and how wealthy the Matsuura family in Hirado is. However, our two boats sailed around the island, but we didn't see anything.

There is a living person on the island.

"So, no matter how prosperous it was in the past, how powerful it was in the past, in short, there is nothing now. The entire Hirado Island is a ghost island with no people. If the little ones weren't worried that the island was not clean, they could have given it at that time

It took it."

"Wang Defa, you said the Matsuura family, the lord of Hirado Castle, is dead?!"

"Are they all dead? The little ones didn't dare to go to the island, and now they don't dare to tell the truth. But Hirado Castle has been burned to black ground, and many ships in the harbor have also been burned, but the little ones have seen it with their own eyes.

.”

Although this Wang Defa was only the commander of the naval battalion, he obviously knew the Matsuura family, the lords of Hirado Castle, and he also knew what Yang Zhen was asking.

So when he saw that Yang Zhen was surprised by what he said, he quickly took back his previous somewhat complacent words and added:

"Furthermore, the plague in the Wonu Kingdom this time is said to have come from the Matsuura family in Hirado Castle. Therefore, my guess is that the Matsuura family is almost dead, unless——"

"Unless what?"

"It's like this, Governor, the reason why General Qiu Shen ordered me to go to Hirado to inquire about the situation is because there is a Goto family on Fujiang Island to the east of Yingzhou Island. They sent a ship to our place at the end of February.

I came here to buy food——"

"Fukue Island Goto family? Why did another Goto family appear?"

Yang Zhen himself didn't know much about the history of the Japanese slave country. He only knew the names of some of the more famous feudal lords of the Japanese slave country during the so-called Warring States Period.

Speaking of the Matsuura family of the Hirado clan, he also knew a little bit about it. He knew that the Matsuura family made its fortune by virtue of its geographical location and maritime trade. It was also a well-known family among the hundreds of small clans in the Wonu Kingdom.

But when it came to the Goto family on Fukue Island, he was a little confused.

In Yang Zhen's impression, there are indeed a group of islands in the ocean east of Yingzhou Island, close to the Wonu Kingdom Kyushu Island, and there are indeed several islands of different sizes connected together, called the Five Islands Islands.

However, he always believed that these big islands should be uninhabited desert islands. How could there be a Goto clan?

"It's the Goto family of Fukue Island. The governor doesn't know about it. Of course, the young ones also heard from people after arriving at Yingzhou Island that there is a Fukue clan on Fukue Island, and the name of the feudal lord is Goto Mori."

Wang Defa saw that Yang Zhen was full of doubts and was very interested in the Goto family on Fujiang Island, so he quickly introduced the origin of the Goto family.

"It is said that the lord of the Fukue Domain claimed that a series of islands north of Fukue Island and south of Hirado Island belonged to his family, including five large islands, so he named himself the Goto Clan.

"Actually - Governor, this Goto clan is nothing to put it bluntly. It's just a wealthy family with no tigers in the mountains and monkeys as kings. If it weren't for the fear that the plague on his island would be transmitted to us again, we would have wiped it out last winter.

Got it."

"That's it, Governor, after we were ordered by the Governor to garrison Yingzhou Island last year, we also sent a ship to patrol the ocean to the east of Yingzhou Island. After exploring, we found out that there are many islands there, and they are all

There is a person, there is an owner.”

Guo Xiaowu, who was also in the hall, saw that Yang Zhen was interested in the Goto clan, so after Wang Defa introduced the basic situation, he quickly added a few words.

"However, Governor, don't listen to the names of their vassals and vassals. In fact, many vassals are not as big as a county in our Ming Dynasty, especially the so-called Fujiang Domain of the Goto clan on Fujiang Island. It is said that they don't even have a serious city.

.

"So, it's just like what Wang Defa said, if it hadn't been for the plague that broke out in the Wonu Kingdom last winter, and we were worried that it was also on their island, we would have sent troops to eliminate it in one fell swoop."

Yang Zhen listened to Wang Defa's statement and Guo Xiaowu's supplement, and then asked Zhang Chen to find the map he had obtained from Jianghua Left-behind Mansion.

Yang Zhen led everyone to search around on the map, and finally found the general location of Fujiang Island. However, he saw that the Goto clan had been marked in small letters on the map next to Fujiang Island.

"Haha, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, but this plague protected it. Very good, very good, I know this Goto clan!"

Yang Zhen originally didn't care about the Five Islands. He originally thought that using Yingzhou Island as a springboard to invade the Wonu Kingdom and as a base for the army's food and grass supplies, and then sending troops to the Kyushu vassals of the Wonon Kingdom, would be a weapon.

In any case, it will not repeat the mistake of Kublai Khan when he sent a large army to conquer the Wonu Kingdom.

But now it seems that there are so many large and small vassal states on the periphery of the Wonu Kingdom, which serve as barriers to their mainland.

If you don't clear out these peripheral island vassals in advance, then you may encounter a lot of trouble when you invade the mainland of the Wonu Kingdom, even if it's just the small vassals on Kyushu Island.

Yang Zhen was convinced and immediately sentenced the Goto clan to death in his heart.

But he didn't say anything more at the moment, he just smiled and clapped his hands, first asked someone to put away the map, and then continued to say to Wang Defa:

"Okay, Wang Defa, go on and tell us about the situation of the Matsuura family in Hirado!"

"Yes, Governor!"

Next, Wang Defa told the situation about the Matsuura family, the lord of the Hirado domain, that he learned from the Goto clan messenger.

"Just a few months ago, at the end of February, just a few days after Guo Shoubei and the others left Yingzhou Island with the red-haired ghosts who asked for help from us, the Goto clan on Fujiang Island also sent people to buy food from us.

.

"General Qiu Shen originally planned to refuse, but he also wanted to inquire about the plague situation in the Wonu Kingdom, so he asked their ship to stay on a desert island outside the harbor for a few days. Finally, they had nothing to do, so they

Allow them to enter Hong Kong.

"The youngest was present at the time. According to Tang Tongshi, who was traveling with them, the plague in the Wonu Kingdom spread from Hirado. There was a plague in Hirado City. The Matsuura family asked for help everywhere, but the plague spread everywhere.

This is how the plague in Nagasaki Port and Fukue Domain came about.

"However, I have also heard that the Matsuura family is different from the Goto family. The Matsuura family has a great business. In addition to Hirado Castle, the Matsuura family also owns Iki Island and is also the Hizen guardian on Kyushu Island. In other words, Hizen

The vassals of the country also listen to the orders of the Matsuura family."

"so what?"

"So, the young people think that if the governor wants to unite with the red-haired ghosts to fight the Japanese slaves on Kyushu Island, it would be better for him to first remove the Goto clan and occupy Fujiang Island, and then capture the entire Goto Islands as the governor's army.

A place to stand.”

"Is this your own idea?"

"This——, I don't dare to deceive the governor, this is actually a method that General Qiu Shen and Lin Tongyu discussed together. And just before I was ordered to send off this wave of red-haired ghosts, General Qiu Shen, Lin Tongyu and the others had already

Get ready to capture Fukue Island!"

"Lin Tongyu? Is Lin Qingye still on Yingzhou Island?!"

"Exactly, Governor, just half a month ago, Commander Lin once again led a fleet to transport immigrants from Dengzhou to Yingzhou Island. General Qiu was worried that Yingzhou Island was not strong enough, so he planned to seize the Wudao Islands.

I discussed it with Commander Lin, and Commander Lin also agreed greatly!"

"Well, that's good, that's good."

As early as April, Lin Qingye's fleet, together with other fleets, was tasked with transporting the loyal and loyal Ming army across the sea to Dengzhou.

After that mission was over, since they were leading a fleet, it was not convenient for them to follow Fang Yizao and sink their troops ashore to fight in Zhongzhou, so they instead took on the mission of transporting immigrants.

Then, Yu Liangtai was transferred to Denglai East Road and led the fleet south to Liugong Island to garrison.

The fleets of Hu Changhai and Gao Chengyou also received other tasks and withdrew from the fleet transporting immigrants between Dengzhou and Yingzhou Island.

Since then, Yuan Jin's fleet has taken on the important task of immigrating from Dengzhou to Anzhou, while Lin Qingye's fleet has taken on the important task of immigrating from Dengzhou to Yingzhou.

Of course, now that Yuan Jin's fleet has been ordered to move to Dengzhou, it has temporarily withdrawn from the fleet transporting immigrants.

At present, in the entire Jinhai Town, Lin Qingye's fleet is the only one still responsible for the important task of cross-sea immigration.

However, the time for land reclamation and cultivation in various places under the jurisdiction of Jinhai Town has almost passed, and the cross-sea immigration matter should indeed come to an end within this year.

Even if Lin Qingye leads his fleet back, the next step will be just another round trip at most.

In this case, it is better to hand over the immigrants waiting in Dengzhou Prefecture to Yu Liangtai who has moved to Liugong Island, so that Yu Liangtai can lead them to open up wasteland and cultivate on the deserted island along the eastern coast of Dengzhou Prefecture!

"Let's see, no matter how many ships or people the red-haired ghost sends, we are already ready to send troops to Kyushu Island. And even if we don't attack Kyushu Island, we still need to seize the Five Islands Islands without delay.

"It's just right for Lin Qingye to stay on Yingzhou Island. Even without the red-haired ghost, with Lin Qingye's fleet, we can manage enough troops!

"However, if Lin Qingye's fleet follows me to attack Kyushu Island in the future, then the cross-sea immigration to Yingzhou Island will be temporarily suspended for a while.

Yang Zhen had a plan in his mind, so he naturally acted resolutely and made arrangements immediately.

"Old Zhang, please send documents to the prefecture as soon as possible so that Fang Guangchen, Wu Chaozuo, Yu Liangtai and others know. In addition to asking them to allocate 3,000 households to Yuan Jin for the immigrants waiting to cross the sea and settle down, they will also be asked to

Yu Liangtai, who lived in Liugong Island, had three thousand households. He asked Yu Liangtai to arrange for them to open up wasteland and cultivate crops along the coast of Denglai East Road.

"As for the other refugees who have been quarantined in Weixian County, Fang Guangchen, Wu Chaozuo and others will guide them to go to the prefecture, and officials from all over the prefecture will resettle them on the spot. The places suitable for reclamation will be reclaimed, and the places where mining can be mined will be mined.

"It is said by this governor that all the uncultivated land in the barren mountains, wild ridges, deserted islands and coasts within the second government can be resettled with refugees and reclaimed for farming in accordance with my order of Jinhai Town to divide the land for cultivation.

“If the gentry, officials and people of Denglai Second Prefecture have any objections to this, they can sue to Denglai Second Prefecture. If the second Denglai Prefecture cannot resolve the matter, they can sue to the assistant camp affairs office of the general town government.

The verdict is the final verdict. If you are still dissatisfied, just kill them!"
Chapter completed!