Zhao Han did not directly issue an imperial edict to the Japanese shogunate, but sent an envoy to take Li Quan to Nagasaki first.
There was a Zheng family business store in Nagasaki, and the person in charge was Zheng Sen’s younger brother Zheng Daozhou.
The name Zheng Daozhou belongs to his son in history. He has always been named Tagawa Zuoshichiemon.
Li Quan followed the envoy Wen Jiuyi and first took a boat to Fujian and then to Nagasaki via Ryukyu. He was not idle along the way, learning navigation from the captain of the merchant ship and mastering various precautions on board.
This young man who plans to sail around the world has actually only been to sea once and is a complete rookie.
When we arrived at Nagasaki, the number of Dutch merchant ships here was extremely small. Chinese maritime merchants had a huge competitive advantage with Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian as their backing, and they were frantically squeezing the Dutch's market share.
The reason why the Netherlands can continue to mix is mainly due to the shogunate's sea trade quota.
The Japanese shogunate stipulates that China can only sell so many ships of goods each year, and the Netherlands can only sell so many goods each year. Once the limit is exceeded, I'm sorry, but the excess merchant ships should wait for next year.
This move forced Chinese and Dutch maritime merchants to quietly join forces with local lords to engage in smuggling.
After all, smuggling is smuggling. Some Chinese businessmen have reached cooperation with the Dutch, who have lost the competition. When they purchase goods along the coast of China, they fly the Chinese flag, and when they sell goods in Nagasaki, they fly the Dutch flag, using Dutch trade quotas.
Business.
"Zheng Daozhou pays homage to Lord Angel!"
"Mr. Zheng, please wake up quickly!"
Wen Jiuyi helped Zheng Daozhou up and introduced: "This is Li Quan and Li Yuheng. I have the emperor's mandate. I have something to ask Mr. Zheng."
Zheng Daozhou couldn't figure out the origin of this young man. Since he was sent by the emperor, he must respect him. He quickly handed over his hand and said, "I have met Mr. Li."
Li Quan returned the greeting and said, "I'm sorry for disturbing Mr. Zheng."
After showing the two of them tea, Zheng Daozhou sent the rest of the crowd away, and Li Quan directly explained his purpose.
But Zheng Daozhou laughed: "This is easy, there is no need to alert the shogunate at all!"
"Why?" Li Quan asked.
Zheng Daozhou explained: "Today's shogun is called Tokugawa Ietsuna. He is only twelve or thirteen years old. Political affairs are decided by the senior shogunate."
Li Quan asked again: "Bibbing the old Chinese?"
Zheng Daozhou shook his head: "There is no need to alarm Lao Zhong, go directly to Baoke Zhengzhi."
"Who is Baoke Zhengzhi?" Li Quan became increasingly puzzled.
Zheng Daozhou explained in detail: "In terms of seniority, Hoshina Masayuki is the uncle of the shogunate. I gave birth to a son. Because the royal wife was jealous, he was fostered in another family since he was a child. When he was young, he became the adopted son of Hoshina Masamitsu. After the death of the royal wife, he was adopted by the shogunate.
The second-generation general took him back and showed great favor to him. He first made him pay 200,000 koku to the Yamagata Domain, and then ordered him to pay 230,000 koku to the Kaitsu Domain. Even though the shogunate was assisted by Tadakiyoshi Sakai, a veteran, in fact,
Behind the scenes, Masayuki Hoshina’s influence is even greater.”
Li Quan asked: "Can the shogunate open Hong Kong if Bao Kezhengzhi is protected?"
"It's impossible and it's not necessary," Zheng Daozhou said. "Both of the two territories owned by Masayuki Hoshina are in the easternmost part of Japan. The feudal lords in the west are more or less involved in smuggling in the sea trade, but Masayuki Hoshina wants to smuggle without being willing to do so."
Go. Therefore, Hoshina Masayuki severely cracks down on smuggling, mainly because he cannot make profits from it. Mr. Li wants to open a supply port in eastern Japan, so he can cooperate with Hoshina Masayuki. His territory is there! To put it bluntly, this person
He is like an imperial uncle in Japan. Who dares to say anything about him quietly engaging in smuggling?"
"Wonderful, Mr. Zheng is so talented!" Li Quan praised.
Zheng Daozhou waved his hand: "I am not a great talent, I am just familiar with the situation in Japan."
Li Quan originally thought that he would need to use force, or at least issue an imperial edict to the shogunate, but he didn't expect that it could be done through smuggling.
Li Quan asked Zheng Daozhou to prepare silk, porcelain and other items, and asked Zheng Daozhou to hire some people as followers, and then went to Edo as an envoy from China.
They have a blank edict and fill in the content according to the situation.
After arriving in Edo, Zheng put Wen Jiuyi in charge of dealing with the shogunate. Emperor Datong was very relieved because of Japan's loyalty and obedience. He ordered the envoy to bring some silk porcelain and rewarded the shogunate as an encouragement.
"It's quite prosperous, but there are too many beggars." Li Quan arrived in Edo and made a fair evaluation of the place.
Fifty years ago, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the shogunate here and ordered the daimyo of Western Japan to provide 10 laborers for every thousand koku, and vigorously built the Edo Castle Town. The land around the castle was all built into towns. Later, daimyo from all over the country
Wahatamoto was also asked to move his family here. Even monks, businessmen, and craftsmen from all over the country moved in one after another, which can be said to have gathered the best of Japan.
At this time, Edo Castle had a distinctly military style, and there were even watchtowers in the neighborhoods.
If history holds true, in four years a fire would have burned down 60% of Edo's neighborhoods, and after reconstruction it would have completely turned into a commercial city.
This miserable place has a population of hundreds of thousands!
The Chinese ship Li Quan was on was discovered when it entered the port, and was quickly surrounded by a group of soldiers when it landed.
"The envoy of the Celestial Dynasty is here. Let the shogunate come and receive him quickly!" the interpreter sent by Zheng Daozhou scolded.
When Li Quan and Wen Jiuyi went abroad, they only brought a few followers with them. The rest were all borrowed from the Zheng family for show. Even the ships they took were Zheng's merchant ships.
Edo's control over foreigners was very strict. Under the closed-door policy, any non-Japanese must be subject to interrogation.
Hearing that the Chinese emperor had sent an envoy, Tadaki Sakai, a senior citizen, personally came to greet him.
The scene was full of pomp, with hundreds of people shouting in front and behind. Many of his officials were on foot, and a few were on horseback to clear the way. Sakai Tadakichi himself was riding in a strange sedan.
In Chinese sedans, the lifting pole is located in the middle of the car. In Japanese sedans, the lifting pole is at the top of the car.
The ancient Japanese were originally short, so what does it mean that the lifting pole is on the top of the sedan chair?
This means that the space in the car is very narrow, and the bottom is almost touching the ground. Even if you want to expand the space in the car, you can only expand it on all sides, and there is only a little space up and down.
Sakai Tadaki's sedan was very luxurious. It was made of precious wood, with a surface like fine lacquerware, and was decorated with silk to show its nobility. But the weird style still made Li Quan try not to laugh, as if he was carrying a monkey pretending to be a monkey.
cage.
"I, the ministers of the lower country, pay homage to the angels of the upper country!"
"Please get up."
Sakai Tadaki was wearing a black hat, which was twenty centimeters high. Even with the hat on, when he stood in front of Wen Jiuyi, it only reached Wen Jiuyi's chin.
The height of this middle-aged man is estimated to be less than 1.4 meters.
Sakai Tadayoshi led the Chinese envoys into the city, but transportation was a problem. Neither Wen Jiuyi nor Li Quan could ride in the sedan. The sedan was too short and they couldn't sit up straight. If they sat upright, their heads would hit the roof of the sedan.
Fortunately, Sakai Tadashi was prepared early in the morning and got two luxury carriages.
After entering the city to rest, and being served delicious food, the shogun needs three days to bathe and fast.
During the fast, Tokugawa Ietsuna, who was not yet thirteen years old, led his subordinates to meet with the Chinese envoy.
Before Tokugawa Ietsuna, the shogunate had absolute control over the local daimyo. But this little kid was only 10 years old when he succeeded to the throne, and the power quickly fell into the hands of the elders, who took the opportunity to grab profits crazily.
Sakai Tadakiyoshi has just taken over power, and has not really become the boss yet. He is just a relatively powerful middle-aged man.
Under the arrangement of Sakai Tadaki, Tokugawa Ietsuna followed the instructions at a loss, even the content of his speech had been practiced in advance.
This situation of being constrained by the elders could not be solved even after Tokugawa Ietsuna came to power. Therefore, his younger brother instituted a side-employment system, which was somewhat similar to the Ming emperor's use of eunuchs to decentralize power.
After the grand ceremony of receiving the order, Li Quan visited Masayuki Hoshina in a swaggering manner, claiming that he wanted to reward the shogun's uncle.
After retreating from everyone, Li Quan said straight to the point: "I don't have any reward, but I brought a gift to your Excellency."
Masayuki Hoshina bowed down and said, "Thank you, Emperor of Heaven, for the reward!"
Li Quan smiled and said: "The gift is not here, but in your territory."
Hoshina Masayuki said in confusion: "In my territory?"
Li Quan said: "If China wants to open up shipping lanes to the Americas, it needs to supply supplies via Japan, and the supply port is best located in the east of Japan."
Baoke was stunned, then ecstatic.
At this time, Japan became more and more remote as it went east, and even maritime trade smugglers were reluctant to go there. If they could open a port in their own territory and engage in smuggling with the Chinese for a long time, wouldn't it be a source of energy to continuously earn money?
It is true that Baoke Zhengzhi severely cracked down on smuggling, but if he could also participate in smuggling, then...it would be excusable.
Not even bothering to hide it, Hoshina Masayuki asked directly: "If a port is established, how many Chinese ships can come every year?"
Li Quan replied: "I was not sure at first. I only have five ships in hand. Within a year, I will go to your port to buy and sell twice. First, I will familiarize myself with the route from China to eastern Japan. Then I will sail eastward.
Dayang is heading to America, and it is unclear when it will come back. But as long as there is business to be done, other Chinese merchant ships will definitely be willing to come."
The two quickly agreed on the port location and chose Sakata Port southwest of Akita.
During the Edo period, there was a proverb that goes, "Sakai Port (Osaka) is in the west, and Sakata is in the east." The prosperity of Sakaida Port, which can rival Osaka, stems from the prosperity of the safflower trade. Safflower is a species of the Asteraceae family, and can be used as
Cosmetics, dyeing cloth, and raw materials for painting were sold throughout Japan during the Edo period.
As for now, the safflower trade has just begun, and Sakata is still just a small port.
That area is not only rich in safflower, but also rich in rice and vegetables. It can be used as a supply port.
Of course, the most important food for ocean voyages is "marching rations"!
In ancient China, it was normal to cook rice during wars, but there were also a wide variety of emergency rations.
For example, in the Ming Dynasty, there were fried rice and rice cakes. The former was similar to self-heating rice, and the latter was similar to compressed biscuits.
Rice is cooked with rice, and then exposed to the sun. After repeated cooking and drying ten times, the weight and volume are greatly reduced. When eating, it is thrown into a pot to cook, or simply soaked in water.
Millet cakes are ground into powder from millet or rice, cooked into cakes, and then exposed to the sun. Then they become compressed biscuits, which can be eaten directly or thrown into a pot to cook.
Of course, these two kinds of emergency dry food definitely don’t taste very good.
Moreover, the production was relatively cumbersome, and many troops in the late Ming Dynasty were too lazy to use it, and even many generals did not even know about the existence of this thing. Zhao Han also did not know about the existence of this thing in the first few years when he started his army, and he gradually understood it later.
If Li Quan wants to sail across the ocean, these two kinds of emergency dry food are necessary.
Usually, the layers are sealed and stored to prevent them from absorbing moisture from the air and becoming moldy. After the normal food is eaten, it can be taken out and used until the next time it docks for supplies.
