Chapter 3541
Chapter 3541
Chapter 3541
When it comes to countries that are extremely interested in this civil war, Portugal and the Netherlands are definitely among them.
Over the past few decades, both countries have made great efforts in Japan to try to turn this country into one of their major trading partners in the Far East. However, due to the policy of seclusion pursued by the Tokugawa shogunate, the activities of merchants have been limited to one or two ports specified by the shogunate, and the scale of trade has been difficult to increase.
Hai Han's method of dealing with the shogunate was obviously more effective, directly sending troops to coerce the shogunate into submission. Since the signing of the Hai-Japan Treaty of Amity in Sasebo Bay twelve years ago, Hai Han's merchants and goods entering and leaving Japan were no longer restricted by the shogunate's isolation order, and the number of ports they could visit increased to more than a dozen.
However, this treatment was exclusive to Hai Han, and other countries were still subject to restrictions. Although Portugal and the Netherlands wanted to emulate Hai Han's approach, they did not have the strength to do so.
What's more, if these two countries really pull out an armed fleet that can intimidate the Tokugawa shogunate, Hai Han will probably not stand idly by. It will most likely jump out to conduct so-called "mediation" to prevent them from establishing a military base in Japan similar to the Sasebo Bay.
It is impossible to defeat Hai Han and seize the Japanese market, but if Japan's own national strength suddenly declines sharply and loses its external deterrent power, they will have the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
And such an opportunity seems to have appeared. This civil war in Japan is bound to greatly weaken the power of the shogunate. Regardless of who wins or loses in the end, the control over foreign trade after the war will definitely decline.
The only thing that needs to be figured out is which side, the Kyushu feudal domains or the shogunate, wins in order to be more conducive to cross-border trade activities.
On the surface, it seemed that the Kyushu vassal states were more inclined to open trade, but one thing that could not be ignored was that the Kyushu vassal states were closer to Hai Han, so close that they were almost obedient. In the future, their trade policies would most likely continue to be at the mercy of Hai Han, which was not a good thing for Portugal and the Netherlands.
Although Portugal and the Netherlands had been rivals for many years, they surprisingly reached a rare consensus on their stance towards the Japanese civil war - they would support whoever could provide practical benefits to their countries after the war, especially trade preferences.
To confirm this, the representatives of both sides must hold a face-to-face meeting. During the inspection team, they knew that they were under constant surveillance by Hai Han, so it was inconvenient to have a formal meeting.
However, as the war situation changed, the opportunity for a meeting came unexpectedly.
Since the main battlefield had been moved to the west of the Kanmon Strait, the expedition camp had to be moved there. During this process, the scene was inevitably a bit chaotic. Portugal's military representative Simao sneaked onto a Dutch official ship and made secret contacts with the Dutch on behalf of Portugal.
"Every word I say here represents the attitude of the Kingdom of Portugal."
As soon as Simao came up, he first stated Portugal's characterization of this secret meeting. Ambassador Thomas to Hai Han granted him the highest authority to represent the Kingdom of Portugal in this meeting.
Su Keyi was also very clear about the purpose of this meeting, and he went straight to the point: "Which side is your country going to support?"
Ximang responded: "Our diplomats have discussed the changes in trade policy after the war with the shogunate. The shogunate promised to open more ports and reduce trade restrictions. I think your country should have contacted the shogunate as well?" Sukeyi said: "The shogunate's promise to our country is similar. It seems that our choice is the same."
Neither of them mentioned the Kyushu domains. It was obvious that the conditions that the Kyushu domains could offer at present could not impress them. In order to win the support of the two countries, the shogunate offered more favorable conditions.
It's not that the Kyushu feudal lords are stingy, but the preferential conditions proposed by several daimyo seem more like pie in the air to them, and there is no way to be sure when they can be fulfilled.
Although the Kyushu feudal lords formed a coalition, who has the final say and how the seats of the daimyo will be arranged have not yet been determined. Most of the ports promised to be opened are located in Honshu and Shikoku, which are currently controlled by the shogunate. At this time, they haven't even conquered the Kanmon Strait, and the pie is drawn thousands of miles away. How can Portugal and the Netherlands trust their promise?
So in their view, although the Kyushu feudal lords seemed to be able to hold their own against the shogunate army because they had the support of Hai Han, in fact there were many hidden dangers and uncertainties in their camps, and their war potential was far inferior to that of the shogunate.
The Kyushu coalition might be able to win local battles, but to overthrow the shogunate's rule and replace it was still an unrealistic goal in their view.
Therefore, they all agreed that it was not wise to stand on the side of the Kyushu vassal states at the moment. Moreover, the Kyushu vassal states were under the command of Hai Han. By that time, Hai Han could make all the promises of the Kyushu vassal states invalid with just one word, and it would be a real waste of effort.
But even if support for the shogunate was decided, how to implement it would be a thorny issue.
The arms that Portugal and the Netherlands could sell to the shogunate had already been delivered several months before the war. Even if the shogunate was willing to pay now, they did not have much to sell, unless they sold their guarding armed fleet to the shogunate, but that was obviously unlikely.
Sending troops to intervene directly would be tantamount to going against Hai Han, which is too risky and not appropriate.
After discussing with Sukeyi for a while, Ximang found that he did not have many cards to play. All he could do now was to provide the shogunate with some military information, which might give the shogunate army a slight advantage on the battlefield.
But they understood that such measures were only better than nothing. The strait was full of Hai Han warships, and the Hai Han army's ability to perceive the battlefield situation was many times better than that of the spectators.
As for whether the information in Hai Han’s possession will serve as a reference for the Kyushu coalition forces in formulating their combat plans, the answer seems self-evident.
Whether the support provided by Portugal and the Netherlands can be transformed into victory for the Shogunate army may depend on Hai Han’s attitude towards this war.
However, what they did not know was that when Hai Han first started planning this civil war, some people had already considered whether they should drag Portugal and the Netherlands into it.
Fortunately, the envoys of both countries were relatively calm and did not publicly express their support for one side. If they had shown their intention to directly participate in the Japanese civil war during the Zhoushan Forum, or opposed Hai Han's intervention in other countries' civil wars, Portugal and the Netherlands might have been inexplicably dragged into this war.