Chapter 903 Going north for inspection (5)

Since the last century, many Ming merchants have come here across the sea to trade. Therefore, Hirado, like Nagasaki, has many Chinese-style buildings funded by Ming merchants and Han Chinese neighborhoods. But compared to Han culture

In Nagasaki Port, which has a strong atmosphere, the commercial atmosphere in Hirado is more prominent. Most of the merchants built here by Ming Dynasty merchants were shops and shops, while Nagasaki built many schools, temples and other religious and cultural facilities.

Although Chen Yixin is young, he has traveled to many places. He believes that the reputation of Hirado Port is far greater than the actual operating level here. The construction status of the port, terminal and town is not even compared with places like Sanya.

There is still a gap in Penghu Magong Port that Haihan took over last year. If Haihan were asked to choose a location to build a commercial port, Hirado would probably not even be eligible for selection. After all, the Japanese's management level of sea trade is still poor.

Some, if Haihan settles in Sasebo Bay in the south in the future, the Matsuura family in Hirado will basically have no need to play, and will just be a distributor for Haihan.

After Matsuura Shinichi left, people from the Portuguese business office also came to visit Chen Yixin. Western colonists came to Hirado much earlier than Haihan. In 1543, the great pirate Wang Nao brought the Portuguese to Kagoshima

In 1550, a Portuguese merchant ship entered the Port of Hirado, accompanied by the missionary Francisco Xavier. This missionary, who had not been successful in spreading Catholicism in Kagoshima, received Matsuura Takanobu's support after arriving in Hirado.

Hospitality and support allowed Catholicism to spread widely in northern Kyushu. By the time Chen Yixin came to Hirado, there were already a large number of Catholic churches and believers on the island.

The Dutch set up a trading post in Hirado in 1609. The British were a little slower, entering Hirado in 1613 and introducing sweet potatoes to local cultivation. However, the British's local operations obviously could not compete with their European counterparts. In 1623

So they closed the merchant houses in Hirado and completely withdrew from Japan. Now the Spanish and the Dutch are in the same situation as the British. The spices, glass products, and weapons they brought from distant Europe are basically incomparable to the Portuguese.

Haihan goods shipped from Hainan Island compete. Whether it is freight costs or production costs, the Portuguese clearly have a clear advantage.

The person who came to visit Chen Yixin was Ricardo, the consul of the Portuguese Commercial Embassy. He had visited Sanya and other places under Haihan's rule more than once, so he still had a certain understanding of Haihan. I heard that Haihan came to Hirado Port

When the Haihan fleet arrived, Ricardo immediately rushed to the inn where Chen Yixin was staying. Among the goods exported by the Portuguese to Japan, Haihan products accounted for nearly half. Therefore, regardless of the purpose of the Haihan fleet coming here, Ricardo

Kaduo responded with great vigor.

Ricardo had never met Chen Yixin before, so after meeting him, he could not help but be surprised by Chen Yixin's young appearance. He even had a little doubt in his heart whether he was the son of a high-ranking Haihan official. After all, he was leading an army at such a young age.

When an ocean-going fleet goes on a mission to other countries, in addition to personal professional ability, prestige is also a very important factor, otherwise it will be difficult to convince subordinates of the orders given.

Ricardo did not have the same language skills as Matsuura Shinichi, so he could only communicate with Chen Yixin through an interpreter. Only then did he learn from the other party's self-introduction that this young Haihan was actually a colonel officer of the Haihan Militia.

As far as he knew, this was a very high-ranking military attache, and it was said that the Haihan Militia was ranked according to military merit. Chen Yixin was promoted to colonel at a young age, and he had obviously achieved many military exploits.

For Chen Yixin, Ricardo is an unplanned source of intelligence. Considering the close cooperation between Haihan and Portugal in recent years, the information obtained from Ricardo will be more credible.

It would also save Haihan a lot of effort. So Chen Yixin seized this opportunity and asked him about various local conditions in Hirado, including politics, economy, military, geography, etc. He knew the Portuguese business houses.

It's not just for doing business. Collecting this kind of information is a function that every foreign business office has. The difference just depends on the specific results.

Of course, Ricardo could more or less guess Chen Yixin's purpose, but the information that the Haihan people needed did not have much confidentiality value, so Ricardo didn't mind giving it to Chen Yixin to earn some favor.

The Portuguese currently need to rely on Haihan in many aspects of their operations in the Far East. Especially when dealing with their two old rivals, Spain and the Netherlands, they must rely on Haihan, a strong backer, to be able to operate without harming their own interests.

Providing some help to the Haihan people within our capabilities can also be regarded as a useful measure to promote the development of bilateral relations.

Therefore, the information Ricardo provided to Chen Yixin only accounted for half of the information about the Matsuura family and Hirado Port, while the other half was about the business conditions and trends of the Dutch and Spanish here. He did not know the Haihan people

The real purpose of coming here, but if Chen Yixin can be persuaded to teach the Dutch and Spaniards operating in Japan a lesson, he would of course be happy to see it happen.

Chen Yixin's mentality is not as young as he looks on the surface. Of course, he also noticed that Ricardo wanted to lead him. Chen Yixin didn't mind Ricardo's little thoughts. After all, the Netherlands and Spain were related to Hainan.

The Han Dynasty is in a state of hostility, and it is normal for the Portuguese to want to borrow a knife to kill people in this regard. Especially the Spanish, after the two sides fought on Taiwan Island at the beginning of the year, they did not conduct any form of formal peace talks. In other words, the two sides are still in a state of hostility.

In a state of war, a war can start at any time if it really wants to. But what Chen Yixin is really interested in is another thing that has little to do with the Dutch and Spanish.

"Mr. Ricardo, you should know about Zheng Zhilong, right?" Chen Yixin changed the subject and mentioned another thing: "He also started to make a fortune in Hirado in his early years, and he should have some assets here. I just talked to him

The Matsuura family also mentioned it tactfully, but they didn’t respond to me, so there must be some inconvenience. I wonder if Mr. Ricardo can help me?"

"Zheng Zhilong?" Ricardo was slightly surprised when he heard the name, and soon regained his composure: "Of course I know that Zheng Yiguan is a well-known figure in Hirado. He got married, made a fortune, and had children here. He is closely related to the Matsuura family.

The relationship has always been very good. His manor in Hirado is not far from here, but his family has moved away from Hirado and no longer lives here. Chief Chen does not need to worry about the attitude of the Matsuura family. They

I will definitely remain neutral and will not take sides just because of the grudge between you and Zheng Zhilong."

Zheng Zhilong was nicknamed Yiguan because his Christian name was Nicolas when he was baptized by Catholics in Macao in 1621. Westerners, especially the Portuguese, used to call him Nicolas Iquan, that is, Nicholas Yiguan. The name Zheng Zhilong he used in the Ming Dynasty

On the contrary, not many people called his name. Zheng Zhilong later came to Kyushu, Japan, met and married the Tagawa family, the adopted daughter of the overseas Chinese blacksmith Weng Yihuang, and joined the pirate businessman Li Dan to work. In 1624, Zheng Zhilong’s wife settled in Senrihama, Hirado.

After giving birth to his son Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhilong left Kyushu with his family in the same year and joined Yan Siqi. The following year, Yan Siqi and Li Dan died one after another. After Zheng Zhilong inherited their properties, he established Shibazhi, which later dominated the southeastern seaboard.

After that, although Zheng Zhilong still maintained trade relations with Hirado, he never came back to live here. After Shibazhi was defeated in Penghu, he fled eastward and settled on Miyako Island between Taiwan and Ryukyu. After that

It is unknown whether Shiba Shiba still maintains secret trade relations with Hirado, but the Matsuura family in charge of Hirado is obviously unable to offend a wealthy and capable force like Haihan for a down-and-out pirate leader, so they must remain neutral.

This is their secret to running Hirado Port.

Ricardo believed that Chen Yixin took the initiative to mention Zheng Zhilong for two purposes. One was to understand the Matsuura family's current attitude towards Zheng Zhilong, and the other was to find out whether Zheng Zhilong still had business dealings with Hirado. As for why he wanted to inquire about this

According to the news, Ricardo believed that the Haihan people had finally freed up their hands to kill all the Eighteen Zhiyu Party members who had escaped from Penghu.

Although Ricardo was in Hirado, he still had a certain understanding of the changes in the situation in the south. After the Haihan people captured Penghu in May last year, they did not pursue Shibazhi. Later, they took advantage of the chaos in Batavia in the South China Sea.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he entered Taiwan directly under the eyes of the Dutch and forced the Dutch to sign a peace agreement. After taking care of the Dutch, Haihan went to war non-stop against the Spaniards entrenched in the northern part of Taiwan Island, and finally defeated them in Taiwan.

The two colonial strongholds built in Taipei were uprooted, and the Spanish tentacles in the Western Pacific had to be retracted from the island of Taiwan to the city of Manila in the South China Sea.

After fighting against these two families, Haihan has basically controlled the coastline of Taiwan Island, and it seems logical to deal with the remaining overseas parties of Shibazhi. After all, if the Haihan people want to open up a route to Japan in the future,

The Shiba Shiba located on Miyako Island will be a huge hidden danger. Since Haihan has the ability to drive Shiba Shiba out of the Fujian Strait, of course he will not mind spending a little more time to get rid of them completely.

Although Zheng Zhilong had some friendship with the Portuguese in the past, after the appearance of the Haihan people, the Portuguese had completely sided with the Haihan camp. In terms of attitude towards Shibazhi, it was considered very good not to help the Haihan people deal with them.

He missed his old relationship, so Ricardo didn't intend to deliberately hide it from Chen Yixin. He would tell as much as he knew. As for how the Haihan people planned to deal with Zheng Zhilong, although Ricardo was also curious, he was not prepared to get to the bottom of it. Anyway, the destruction of Shibazhi

It would not harm Portugal's interests, but after the Haihan people took control of the route to Japan via the Ryukyu Islands, it was very likely that they would cut off the northward passage of the Dutch and Spanish.

From Ricardo's narrative, Chen Yixin also quickly clarified several things. First, Shibazhi still maintains trade relations with Hirado officials in some non-public form; second, Zheng Zhilong did not

He has never appeared in Hirado, and the last time he appeared here was seven or eight years ago; thirdly, Zheng Zhilong has no relatives to settle in Hirado, but he still has some real estate such as land and houses, but these

Real estate means little to Haihan.

Ricardo's prediction was correct. One of Chen Yixin's missions in Hirado was to collect recent intelligence on Zheng Zhilong and Shiba Zhi in order to prepare for possible subsequent crackdowns. Although Shiba Zhi did not appear again this year.

When setting foot in the Fujian Strait, they even kept an extremely cautious distance from the waters near Taiwan Island, but the military did not intend to let Shibazhi continue to survive like this. After the matter in Zhejiang was settled, the next action of the Haihan Militia

The target was Miyako Island, and before that the military hoped to securely block all Zheng Zhilong's escape routes to prevent him from escaping again.

The expedition fleet stayed in Hirado Port for two days, had a short rest and supplies, and then continued to sail north. After passing through the strait between Hirado Island and Kyushu, it is between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

of the Korea Strait. The first stop of the fleet was Iki Island, located north of Kyushu Island and only more than ten nautical miles away from Hirado.

This island covers an area of ​​more than 130 square kilometers. Most of the terrain is platform, and the highest altitude does not exceed 200 meters. In addition to the main island, there are 21 affiliated islands. According to the information obtained in Hirado, a small number of fishermen have settled on the islands.

.

The fleet did not choose to land on this island, but just circled half of the island at a short distance along its west coastline, and then sailed to the next stop, Tsushima Island. Tsushima Island, which consists of five islands, has a land area of ​​nearly 700 square kilometers, and is about 700 square kilometers away.

The Korean Peninsula is only 50 kilometers away, and Busan on the Korean Peninsula can even be seen from the northern tip of the island. However, this place has always been under Japanese control and is the gateway for maritime transportation between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

The early historical records of Tsushima Island can be found in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou of the Jin Dynasty. During the two expeditions to Japan in the Yuan Dynasty, Tsushima Island was captured. In the early 15th century, the Joseon Dynasty used the "crusade against Japanese pirates" to

In the name of Japan, it sent troops to Tsushima Island in an attempt to occupy the area. However, the "Haidong Kingdoms" compiled by Shen Shuzhou, the leader of the Joseon Dynasty in 1471, still records that Tsushima Island belongs to Japan.

The Battle of Wenlu broke out in 1592, which was the Wanli Korean War in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Tsushima Island became the frontier base for Japan to send troops to Korea. The post-war relations between the two countries basically relied on the trading houses opened on Tsushima Island.

To maintain the relationship. When Chen Yixin led the fleet to arrive here, Tsushima Island was still controlled by the Tsushima clan clan who was loyal to the Edo shogunate.

The Haihan military has no special ideas about this place for the time being. Tsushima Island has neither a natural harbor nor natural conditions suitable for development. Although the island's land area is not small, it is almost entirely mountainous, so colonization will be relatively difficult.

A little bigger.
Chapter completed!