Chapter 2083
Chapter 2083
Chapter 2083
Regardless of whether these Chinese-style warships belonged to the Eighteen Shibayu Party, the Tagawa family, or the Matsuura clan who ruled the Hirado Domain, their owners obviously had great ambitions.Not to mention the mature shipbuilding technology and construction plan, just the time and money required to build these warships, and the large number of professionals required to put them into use after completion, these problems are enough to dissuade most ambitious people.
Amakusa Shiro believes that the ships found in Tiansuke Bay are not the entire armed forces of the opponent, and there may be shipyards similar to this in other places in Hirado.Moreover, if the fleet composed of such warships wants to form combat effectiveness, they must be gathered together for coordinated drills. Presumably the owners of these ships should not be so big-hearted that they will train for sea combat next to Hirado Port, so these warships really assembled. The place should be elsewhere—for example, only two miles away from here, Boxiang Bay and Gujiang Bay on the west coast of Hirado Island, the area of the bays is more than [-] times that of Tiansuke Bay.
Although it is very close by land, but by sea, you have to go north from Tiansuke Bay and bypass the northern end of Hirado Island to reach the two bays along the west coastline.And relying on two legs to complete the inspection of the two bays may not be a task that can be completed in a day or two.
Of course, it is not necessary to go to the field to obtain some information. Whether there are other shipyards nearby can be found at Tiansuke Bay.In places like ports and wharves, as long as you are willing to spend a little money, you can basically get local information easily.Tiansuke Bay is no exception. Amakusa Shiro only spent a small ingot of silver to get the information he wanted.
Just as he suspected, there was another shipyard in Boxiang Bay on the west coast of Hirado Island, which was even bigger than this one.However, the location of this shipyard is not close to Tiansuke Bay, but closer to Hirado Port. It is said that from Hirado Port to the west, you can turn over a not-so-high mountain and walk about four or five miles on the mountain road. Where the shipyard is now.
Amakusa Shiro noticed that although there were no shelters around the docks of the shipyard, there were some cold-eyed ronin with knives wandering around in groups of three or four. He thought these people should be the guards deployed here, beware There are idlers approaching these warships under construction.Amakusa Shiro has no curiosity about the shipbuilding technology of these Chinese warships, so he doesn't plan to venture close to the dock.
After Amakusa Shiro confirmed the situation of the dock, he set off for Hirado Port.The land distance from Tiansuke Bay to Hirado Port is only a few miles. After walking for about an hour, you will see the harbor of Hirado Port.This concave harbor is even smaller than Tiansuke Bay, but it has been one of the busiest trading ports in Japan for a long time.
Compared with the seaport town of Tiansuke Bay, Hirado Port is indeed much more prosperous. Standing on the high hillside, Amakusa Shiro can see the well-planned urban area near the port at a glance. The bustling flow of people on the pier is indeed The way a trading port should be.
The ships that come to Hirado to trade are not only from foreign countries, but also many merchants from all over Japan will come here to trade, so the Hirado market not only has goods from foreign countries, but also brings together various products from various regions in Japan. Native products.Over time, Hirado became not only a foreign trade port, but also a distribution center for various high-end commodities in Japan.
Prosperous trade not only brought a lot of business opportunities and capital to the Hirado Clan, but also brought together people from all directions in this place.Shiro Amakusa wandered the street for a while, and saw quite a few foreign people. Apart from Europeans with tall noses and dark eyes, there were even some Arab businessmen with turbans. God knows how these people came to Hirado.
Although the Tokugawa shogunate has made strict regulations on the nationality of foreign businessmen who are allowed to enter Hirado, this is undoubtedly a way for the rulers of the Hirado domain to cut their own money. Not very consistent either.Therefore, in the specific implementation process, the Matsuura family of the Hirado Domain will be more or less obedient, deliberately leaving some room for foreign businessmen to operate, and only symbolically inspecting and registering personnel entering and leaving the port.Even the Portuguese who have moved their business offices to Nagasaki still occasionally come to Hirado quietly to purchase some Japanese products.
In this relatively relaxed environment, it was not too difficult for Amakusa Shiro to enter Hirado Port.But he still didn't dare to be careless. There are probably a lot of people who slipped through the net in Shibazhi. Maybe some of them have met him. If his identity is found out, there will be no one in Hirado. People can help him get away.
Compared with Tiansuke Bay where he stayed overnight yesterday, there are obviously more sources of news on Hirado Port. Every restaurant, tavern, inn, and shop is a place where Amakusa Shiro can play.
But Amakusa Shiro also has a big problem, that is, he is not from the intelligence system. He was a down-and-out samurai before joining the army. Or because of his Japanese identity, he is more or less trying to catch ducks on the shelves.Although Amakusa Shiro is very active in this regard, it cannot conceal his professional shortcomings.
There are indeed many sources of news in Hirado Port, but how to filter out valuable information from the many news is actually a technical task.Based on the information he had obtained before, Amakusa Shiro believed that if he wanted to find the traces of the Eighteen Zhiyu Party in the local area, he would probably land on the Tagawa family. This is currently the most obvious clue.
So Amakusa Shiro first managed to find a small shop that was doing business as an intermediary. He claimed to be a businessman who had just started business in Kumamoto and Hirado, and wanted to know the local market conditions, especially the more powerful merchants in shipping.
His idea is very straightforward. Since the Tagawa family is capable of building Chinese-style warships near Hirado Port, they must also have the corresponding ability and technology to build commercial sailing ships in batches. Their shipping capabilities must not be inferior. From this perspective, inquire about the situation of the Tagawa family. , it shouldn't be easy to attract suspicion.
Amakusa Shiro actually thought a little too much. The local brokers didn't have too much defensiveness against foreign businessmen. They would never think that foreign businessmen would dare to make trouble in the local area. They only regarded Amakusa Shiro as a chance to make a fortune. object.Since the other party wants to know more about the local shipping merchants, try to introduce them as much as possible. If there is no chance, they will be able to match up and facilitate a sale. Not only can they earn the current consulting fee, but they can also get a commission from the successful sale of the introduction.
Amakusa Shiro finally got more detailed information about the Tagawa family here.The Tagawa family was actually a retainer of the Matsuura family, the ruler of the Hirado domain, and was deeply trusted by the domain lord.And this Tagawa family had close contacts with Ming Dynasty in the early years, and obtained the shipbuilding and navigation technology from Ming Dynasty, so its shipping capacity is not only one of the best in the Hirado Domain, even if the scope of comparison is expanded to the whole of Japan, its strength is also ranked. number.
The broker didn't know where Daming provided the Tagawa family with the technology, but Amakusa Shiro had vaguely thought of it.He has also read the relevant information sent from Sanya to the Datongjiang base. The intelligence agency suspects that the Japanese woman Tagawa Matsushita married by Zheng Zhilong in Hirado was a member of the Tagawa family. If this speculation is true, there is no doubt that the Tagawa family got it The technology comes from Zheng Zhilong.
As for how much inheritance Zheng Zhilong left to his widow in Japan, probably only the person concerned knows.But judging from the current investigation, the benefits that the Tianchuan family got from Shibazhi may be far beyond Haihan's imagination.Personnel, technology, wealth, trade channels, organizational structure... are almost all off-the-shelf goods that can be put into use. After receiving these gifts, the Tagawa family will naturally become stronger in some aspects.
From Haihan's point of view, the small actions of the Tagawa family overseas have many targeted deployments against Haihan and Fujian's Xu family, and their motivation should be for revenge.However, it is hard to say whether these means have other purposes. Perhaps these Japanese think that as long as they recruit a few more like-minded partners, they can start a confrontation with Hai Han.
The forces currently involved in this matter are actually not weak. The Spaniards have mastered military industry and navigation technology. Jinyiwei, who caused troubles in Zhangzhou, Fujian, was a privileged class in Ming Dynasty even though he was alone.The fact that the Tagawa family, or the Eighteen Zhiyu Party that they worked with, was able to connect forces from all over the world, was quite an astonishing move in this era.
But limited by their abilities, it is basically impossible for these independent forces to launch at the same time, and the result of acting separately can only be defeated by Haihan one by one.Although opponents like the Qing army or the Spanish colonists will not be eliminated by Haihan for the time being, their ability to threaten Haihan has been greatly weakened.The opponents in the Ming Dynasty are even more hopeless. The lack of an organized armed force means that it is difficult to confront Haihan head-on. Therefore, whether it is the Jinyiwei or the private armed forces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants, they are almost defeated at the touch of a finger. Haihan does not need to send out a large force at all. These opponents with limited strength can be dealt with.
As far as the current stage is concerned, as long as the forces involved in this series of incidents are all attacked by Haihan's force, the overseas deployment of the Tianchuan family has also been turned upside down by Haihan.
As for the battles and confrontations that took place overseas, how much news has been sent back to Hirado, Amakusa Shiro can't confirm it, but what is certain is that if the Tagawa family knows the loss situation overseas at this time, they will definitely be furious—— No one can continue to maintain an even mind after suffering such a large loss.
So the next question that Amakusa Shiro asked was whether the Tagawa family introduced by the broker was reliable, whether he had done any big business recently for reference, or whether he could find someone who could talk to him and have a face-to-face discussion with him. content.
The broker wanted to facilitate the sale, so he swore that the Tagawa family had both strength and credibility, and they could definitely entrust the shipping business to them with confidence.As for the interview with the members of the Tianchuan family, the broker immediately expressed his embarrassment. After all, with his contacts, he was not enough to get more influential figures in the Tianchuan family.
Amakusa Shiro knew the truth that money can make ghosts pervert, so even if he sold another ingot of silver, he asked the other party to think of a way.The broker hurriedly wiped the money into his hand, which meant that he needed some time to contact the other party, and asked Amakusa Shiro to come back tomorrow to listen.
"I'm leaving Hirado in two days. You'd better arrange a meeting before then. If the negotiation is successful, I will pay you another fee." Before getting up to leave, Amakusa Shiro gave a time limit.The only condition he can afford now is the reward. It doesn't matter how much money is spent during the mission, as long as the goal can be achieved.
In the next time, Amakusa Shiro wanted to visit Hirado Castle.Although Hirado Castle is just a conspicuous ruin standing on the height of Hirado Port, it is actually just a symbol of loyalty to the shogunate. The area around it is all the property of the Matsuura family. It is said that including the Tagawa family. A group of retainers also lived there, so Amakusa Shiro planned to take a look around there, maybe with luck he could get something.
Amakusa Shiro walked slowly along the coastline from north to south through the Hirado Port area. During the period, he ate a bowl of ramen at a street shop. This long-lost taste made him feel a little emotional.
When he arrived near Hirado Castle, Amakusa Shiro discovered that although Hirado Castle was in ruins, the fortress built here far exceeded the scale of a Hirado Castle. There are separate fortifications in one place, and they can support each other. This reminds Shiro Amakusa of the fortifications he learned when he was studying at the Sanya Army Academy.
He then thought that the Dutch had been in Hirado for some years. Could it be that the Dutch had suggested the architectural plan for this bastion-like layout?Although they looked like low-rise buildings, not as majestic as a Japanese-style castle, Amakusa Shiro knew that the defense of this kind of bastion was far superior to that of a Japanese-style castle. It can be seen that Matsuura still put a lot of thought into this aspect.
It took Amakusa Shiro some time to find Tagawa's residence, but the gate of this place was closed, and there were two samurai standing guard at the gate. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he gave up the idea of going forward to find out.When he was about to leave here, he suddenly saw a convoy approaching in the distance, so he stopped again to see who was coming.
(End of this chapter)
Regardless of whether these Chinese-style warships belonged to the Eighteen Shibayu Party, the Tagawa family, or the Matsuura clan who ruled the Hirado Domain, their owners obviously had great ambitions.Not to mention the mature shipbuilding technology and construction plan, just the time and money required to build these warships, and the large number of professionals required to put them into use after completion, these problems are enough to dissuade most ambitious people.
Amakusa Shiro believes that the ships found in Tiansuke Bay are not the entire armed forces of the opponent, and there may be shipyards similar to this in other places in Hirado.Moreover, if the fleet composed of such warships wants to form combat effectiveness, they must be gathered together for coordinated drills. Presumably the owners of these ships should not be so big-hearted that they will train for sea combat next to Hirado Port, so these warships really assembled. The place should be elsewhere—for example, only two miles away from here, Boxiang Bay and Gujiang Bay on the west coast of Hirado Island, the area of the bays is more than [-] times that of Tiansuke Bay.
Although it is very close by land, but by sea, you have to go north from Tiansuke Bay and bypass the northern end of Hirado Island to reach the two bays along the west coastline.And relying on two legs to complete the inspection of the two bays may not be a task that can be completed in a day or two.
Of course, it is not necessary to go to the field to obtain some information. Whether there are other shipyards nearby can be found at Tiansuke Bay.In places like ports and wharves, as long as you are willing to spend a little money, you can basically get local information easily.Tiansuke Bay is no exception. Amakusa Shiro only spent a small ingot of silver to get the information he wanted.
Just as he suspected, there was another shipyard in Boxiang Bay on the west coast of Hirado Island, which was even bigger than this one.However, the location of this shipyard is not close to Tiansuke Bay, but closer to Hirado Port. It is said that from Hirado Port to the west, you can turn over a not-so-high mountain and walk about four or five miles on the mountain road. Where the shipyard is now.
Amakusa Shiro noticed that although there were no shelters around the docks of the shipyard, there were some cold-eyed ronin with knives wandering around in groups of three or four. He thought these people should be the guards deployed here, beware There are idlers approaching these warships under construction.Amakusa Shiro has no curiosity about the shipbuilding technology of these Chinese warships, so he doesn't plan to venture close to the dock.
After Amakusa Shiro confirmed the situation of the dock, he set off for Hirado Port.The land distance from Tiansuke Bay to Hirado Port is only a few miles. After walking for about an hour, you will see the harbor of Hirado Port.This concave harbor is even smaller than Tiansuke Bay, but it has been one of the busiest trading ports in Japan for a long time.
Compared with the seaport town of Tiansuke Bay, Hirado Port is indeed much more prosperous. Standing on the high hillside, Amakusa Shiro can see the well-planned urban area near the port at a glance. The bustling flow of people on the pier is indeed The way a trading port should be.
The ships that come to Hirado to trade are not only from foreign countries, but also many merchants from all over Japan will come here to trade, so the Hirado market not only has goods from foreign countries, but also brings together various products from various regions in Japan. Native products.Over time, Hirado became not only a foreign trade port, but also a distribution center for various high-end commodities in Japan.
Prosperous trade not only brought a lot of business opportunities and capital to the Hirado Clan, but also brought together people from all directions in this place.Shiro Amakusa wandered the street for a while, and saw quite a few foreign people. Apart from Europeans with tall noses and dark eyes, there were even some Arab businessmen with turbans. God knows how these people came to Hirado.
Although the Tokugawa shogunate has made strict regulations on the nationality of foreign businessmen who are allowed to enter Hirado, this is undoubtedly a way for the rulers of the Hirado domain to cut their own money. Not very consistent either.Therefore, in the specific implementation process, the Matsuura family of the Hirado Domain will be more or less obedient, deliberately leaving some room for foreign businessmen to operate, and only symbolically inspecting and registering personnel entering and leaving the port.Even the Portuguese who have moved their business offices to Nagasaki still occasionally come to Hirado quietly to purchase some Japanese products.
In this relatively relaxed environment, it was not too difficult for Amakusa Shiro to enter Hirado Port.But he still didn't dare to be careless. There are probably a lot of people who slipped through the net in Shibazhi. Maybe some of them have met him. If his identity is found out, there will be no one in Hirado. People can help him get away.
Compared with Tiansuke Bay where he stayed overnight yesterday, there are obviously more sources of news on Hirado Port. Every restaurant, tavern, inn, and shop is a place where Amakusa Shiro can play.
But Amakusa Shiro also has a big problem, that is, he is not from the intelligence system. He was a down-and-out samurai before joining the army. Or because of his Japanese identity, he is more or less trying to catch ducks on the shelves.Although Amakusa Shiro is very active in this regard, it cannot conceal his professional shortcomings.
There are indeed many sources of news in Hirado Port, but how to filter out valuable information from the many news is actually a technical task.Based on the information he had obtained before, Amakusa Shiro believed that if he wanted to find the traces of the Eighteen Zhiyu Party in the local area, he would probably land on the Tagawa family. This is currently the most obvious clue.
So Amakusa Shiro first managed to find a small shop that was doing business as an intermediary. He claimed to be a businessman who had just started business in Kumamoto and Hirado, and wanted to know the local market conditions, especially the more powerful merchants in shipping.
His idea is very straightforward. Since the Tagawa family is capable of building Chinese-style warships near Hirado Port, they must also have the corresponding ability and technology to build commercial sailing ships in batches. Their shipping capabilities must not be inferior. From this perspective, inquire about the situation of the Tagawa family. , it shouldn't be easy to attract suspicion.
Amakusa Shiro actually thought a little too much. The local brokers didn't have too much defensiveness against foreign businessmen. They would never think that foreign businessmen would dare to make trouble in the local area. They only regarded Amakusa Shiro as a chance to make a fortune. object.Since the other party wants to know more about the local shipping merchants, try to introduce them as much as possible. If there is no chance, they will be able to match up and facilitate a sale. Not only can they earn the current consulting fee, but they can also get a commission from the successful sale of the introduction.
Amakusa Shiro finally got more detailed information about the Tagawa family here.The Tagawa family was actually a retainer of the Matsuura family, the ruler of the Hirado domain, and was deeply trusted by the domain lord.And this Tagawa family had close contacts with Ming Dynasty in the early years, and obtained the shipbuilding and navigation technology from Ming Dynasty, so its shipping capacity is not only one of the best in the Hirado Domain, even if the scope of comparison is expanded to the whole of Japan, its strength is also ranked. number.
The broker didn't know where Daming provided the Tagawa family with the technology, but Amakusa Shiro had vaguely thought of it.He has also read the relevant information sent from Sanya to the Datongjiang base. The intelligence agency suspects that the Japanese woman Tagawa Matsushita married by Zheng Zhilong in Hirado was a member of the Tagawa family. If this speculation is true, there is no doubt that the Tagawa family got it The technology comes from Zheng Zhilong.
As for how much inheritance Zheng Zhilong left to his widow in Japan, probably only the person concerned knows.But judging from the current investigation, the benefits that the Tianchuan family got from Shibazhi may be far beyond Haihan's imagination.Personnel, technology, wealth, trade channels, organizational structure... are almost all off-the-shelf goods that can be put into use. After receiving these gifts, the Tagawa family will naturally become stronger in some aspects.
From Haihan's point of view, the small actions of the Tagawa family overseas have many targeted deployments against Haihan and Fujian's Xu family, and their motivation should be for revenge.However, it is hard to say whether these means have other purposes. Perhaps these Japanese think that as long as they recruit a few more like-minded partners, they can start a confrontation with Hai Han.
The forces currently involved in this matter are actually not weak. The Spaniards have mastered military industry and navigation technology. Jinyiwei, who caused troubles in Zhangzhou, Fujian, was a privileged class in Ming Dynasty even though he was alone.The fact that the Tagawa family, or the Eighteen Zhiyu Party that they worked with, was able to connect forces from all over the world, was quite an astonishing move in this era.
But limited by their abilities, it is basically impossible for these independent forces to launch at the same time, and the result of acting separately can only be defeated by Haihan one by one.Although opponents like the Qing army or the Spanish colonists will not be eliminated by Haihan for the time being, their ability to threaten Haihan has been greatly weakened.The opponents in the Ming Dynasty are even more hopeless. The lack of an organized armed force means that it is difficult to confront Haihan head-on. Therefore, whether it is the Jinyiwei or the private armed forces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants, they are almost defeated at the touch of a finger. Haihan does not need to send out a large force at all. These opponents with limited strength can be dealt with.
As far as the current stage is concerned, as long as the forces involved in this series of incidents are all attacked by Haihan's force, the overseas deployment of the Tianchuan family has also been turned upside down by Haihan.
As for the battles and confrontations that took place overseas, how much news has been sent back to Hirado, Amakusa Shiro can't confirm it, but what is certain is that if the Tagawa family knows the loss situation overseas at this time, they will definitely be furious—— No one can continue to maintain an even mind after suffering such a large loss.
So the next question that Amakusa Shiro asked was whether the Tagawa family introduced by the broker was reliable, whether he had done any big business recently for reference, or whether he could find someone who could talk to him and have a face-to-face discussion with him. content.
The broker wanted to facilitate the sale, so he swore that the Tagawa family had both strength and credibility, and they could definitely entrust the shipping business to them with confidence.As for the interview with the members of the Tianchuan family, the broker immediately expressed his embarrassment. After all, with his contacts, he was not enough to get more influential figures in the Tianchuan family.
Amakusa Shiro knew the truth that money can make ghosts pervert, so even if he sold another ingot of silver, he asked the other party to think of a way.The broker hurriedly wiped the money into his hand, which meant that he needed some time to contact the other party, and asked Amakusa Shiro to come back tomorrow to listen.
"I'm leaving Hirado in two days. You'd better arrange a meeting before then. If the negotiation is successful, I will pay you another fee." Before getting up to leave, Amakusa Shiro gave a time limit.The only condition he can afford now is the reward. It doesn't matter how much money is spent during the mission, as long as the goal can be achieved.
In the next time, Amakusa Shiro wanted to visit Hirado Castle.Although Hirado Castle is just a conspicuous ruin standing on the height of Hirado Port, it is actually just a symbol of loyalty to the shogunate. The area around it is all the property of the Matsuura family. It is said that including the Tagawa family. A group of retainers also lived there, so Amakusa Shiro planned to take a look around there, maybe with luck he could get something.
Amakusa Shiro walked slowly along the coastline from north to south through the Hirado Port area. During the period, he ate a bowl of ramen at a street shop. This long-lost taste made him feel a little emotional.
When he arrived near Hirado Castle, Amakusa Shiro discovered that although Hirado Castle was in ruins, the fortress built here far exceeded the scale of a Hirado Castle. There are separate fortifications in one place, and they can support each other. This reminds Shiro Amakusa of the fortifications he learned when he was studying at the Sanya Army Academy.
He then thought that the Dutch had been in Hirado for some years. Could it be that the Dutch had suggested the architectural plan for this bastion-like layout?Although they looked like low-rise buildings, not as majestic as a Japanese-style castle, Amakusa Shiro knew that the defense of this kind of bastion was far superior to that of a Japanese-style castle. It can be seen that Matsuura still put a lot of thought into this aspect.
It took Amakusa Shiro some time to find Tagawa's residence, but the gate of this place was closed, and there were two samurai standing guard at the gate. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he gave up the idea of going forward to find out.When he was about to leave here, he suddenly saw a convoy approaching in the distance, so he stopped again to see who was coming.
(End of this chapter)