From Chief to Ball

Even if the ports of Hirado and Nagasaki are only allowed to trade in Edo, I can still get the ships there, and once that is done, it will help a lot: Ryukyu is in hand, if Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands cannot To start trade in Nagasaki, it is necessary to go around to the opposite Edo, and the position of Ryukyu will be even more important.

However, the best-selling items such as raw silk in Ming Dynasty are still closer than those in China, and the profits are higher.As for Spain, for the sake of the royal family's monopoly trade, it is strictly forbidden to raise silkworms in the viceroyalty, and it is strictly forbidden to damage the royal family's monopoly trade. There is nothing to worry about.

While Tokugawa Ieyasu was considering the gains and losses, these emissaries were also quickly thinking about the possible gains and losses, because they had already sniffed out the possibility that Tokugawa might agree to open a trading house in Edo.

Japan has a lot of silver. If it can really squeeze out other businessmen, it will be really promising and profitable.The profit of guns has always been more than [-]%, and the technology of raising nitrate in nitrate ponds that has been passed down from ancient times and has formed a professional system has become extremely proficient after hundreds of years of development. Natural saltpeter ore is another inevitable commodity.

The envoys sent by Chen Jian were not members of the party. They had little interest in many of the things Chen Jian was going to do, and even opposed them.What they consider are personal interests, corporate interests, and the interests of the country behind them.As for the life and death of people from other countries, it seems completely irrelevant to them.

In their view, there is no need to think too much about selling guns to Japan. If it is sold to Spain, they will definitely oppose it in the interests of the country and the company, because the two major viceroyalties and the rich tropical islands are too close to the mainland. up.

It can be sold to Japan, and it will not pose any threat to the country: the Great Deserted City, where immigrants can relieve domestic pressure, is in the west, and Japanese ships cannot reach it at all; it is impossible for Japan to cross the sea to attack the mainland; Goods like cotton cloth will sell well; it is the best choice if you want to instigate the Japan-Ming War and make a lot of war money from it.

So after this kind of exchange that had nothing to do with Ryukyu, but related to future diplomacy and trade, the two sides finally talked about the most important Ryukyu issue that should have been the most important issue for sending envoys this time.

What was supposed to be the focal point became only leftovers under the choice of interests.Ryukyu is too close to Shimadzu's house and too far from Edo.

Today's reality is that the messenger brought the news that it was Chen Jian and others hired by the Ming Dynasty when they learned of the news of Satsuma's attack on Ryukyu. .

Tokugawa Ieyasu also understood that people like Chen Jian were clearly obstructing it deliberately, blocking any possible trade exchanges between himself and the Ming Dynasty, thereby monopolizing trade.But this fact is irreversible, coupled with some military and political considerations, we can only not mention this matter.

The dream of the Japan-centered tributary system in the Toyotomi era was shattered in North Korea, and now the only possible Ryukyu has been blocked by people, and the mentality has shrunk back.

After some exchanges, when Tokugawa Ieyasu talked about the Ryukyu issue, he finally expressed his position.

"Ryukyu is originally a country with its own land, and it is Ryukyu's choice to whom to claim tribute."

This is a beautiful statement, but the fact is that Ryukyu is not controlled now, and the Ming Dynasty just sent people to Ryukyu for canonization three years ago, and Chen Jian took the Shimadzu family back. It can be said that these are just superficial talk.

But these words also revealed an attitude towards Chen Jian's document.

Chen Jian said that one of the reasons why the Shimadzu family attacked Ryukyu was that when Toyotomi invaded the dynasty and asked Ryukyu to send troops and food, the Satsuma clan helped half of it, but Ryukyu never returned it.

Tokugawa Ieyasu said this, which was equivalent to acquiescing to Chen Jian's words, and this request was unreasonable.Because Ryukyu is an independent country, it is Ryukyu's own choice whether to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty or to Japan, so the food owed is invalid, and this excuse is not valid.

If Ryukyu had tribute documents or diplomatic documents with Japan at this time, it would be different. For good reasons, Chen Jian's interference was considered as a republic's interference in the Asian system and the country's internal affairs and diplomacy.

The envoys were relieved when they heard this, and they said that if they had already memorized it already, there was no need to say the words like cauldron. This is excellent, and no one wants to die.

Tokugawa continued: "However, four years ago, Ryukyu merchants drifted to Edo. I sent people to rescue them and sent them back. The Ryukyu King did not send a thank-you envoy. This is a lack of etiquette. Such a request is in line with etiquette. , but the Ryukyu people insulted the envoy loudly, which is the reason why the Satsuma clan sent troops to Ryukyu."

"It was originally for small punishment, and had no intention of seizing their land. Furthermore, the Ryukyu people were cunning, and they borrowed many loans but did not repay them. This is why the soldiers of Satsuma were angry and burned them. They just wanted to get the Ryukyu people back. debt owed."

With photos as evidence and numerous third-party witnesses, it is hard to deny the fact that the Satsuma clan burned and killed all the way in Ryukyu.

Although murder and arson are normal things at this time, the excuse for sending troops is courtesy, so there is no way to avoid this tone when defending.If you put down your dignity and say that you are doing it for burning, killing and looting, you don't need to explain this question, but at this time, you are still thinking about the new tributary system that is superficial, so you have to say such nonsense.

The envoys said in their hearts that the life and death of those people has nothing to do with us. The purpose of our coming is not to cut off the trade. Now instead of cutting off the trade, we want to start a new trade.

Following Tokugawa Ieyasu's words, the envoys did not talk about this issue again, but found a step and said: "The Great Imperial Palace, the governor has sorted out the debts owed by private individuals. It is only natural to pay back debts, and private loans naturally need to be repaid. Yes. The Governor will send those IOUs to Satsuma."

Since the other party has already acquiesced that the public debt is unreasonable, the private attitude of this little money still needs to be shown. In fact, no one looks down on this little money.

The envoy said again: "The governor will find a way to explain the misunderstanding to the governor of the Ming Dynasty, and if the Royal Emperor wants to start trade with the Ming Dynasty, the governor will also convey it on his behalf."

Tokugawa Ieyasu cursed secretly in his heart, he understood that these hypocritical words were meaningless.If they really have such good intentions, then what are these people trying to do with so much work?

Don't say that it is meaningless to write it yourself, I am afraid that if you write it, these people will use it secretly.The Ming Dynasty has always been slow to react to the affairs of the Ryukyu side, but this time it reacted so quickly. If it was said that these people did not play tricks in the middle, he would definitely not believe it.

He was slapped in the face in North Korea, and he was slapped again in Ryukyu. It can be said that the dream of a new Asian tributary dynasty that has been held back for so many years has been completely shattered.

Although Ryukyu is small, if you can pay tribute, you can also get great psychological satisfaction. Japan alone without a vassal state is not qualified to dream of the Celestial Dynasty.Just like a Celestial Dynasty that does not pay tribute to foreign nations, it is no longer a Celestial Dynasty but just a country, and it is no longer the system of Tianxia.

After waking up from the dream, he thought more practically, and Ryukyu, a scrap for the Tokugawa family, was simply taken away.Chen Jian said in the letter that Ryukyu is an independent country, and the loss of the Ryukyu country should be discussed separately with the Satsuma clan as a country. He will not participate, which means that Ryukyu is impossible to discuss.

Both sides didn't take it seriously, and it was very clear when it came to this point.Even if any treaty is signed, the Republic can only be a third-party witness and observer before Ryukyu recognizes the new tributary country.

After this sum was brought over, the two sides happily talked about future business houses, trade, missions, exchanges and the like.

These are all very important things now, and Ryukyu is not important now.

As for the future?

It is the ability of the Celestial Dynasty to turn the Celestial Dynasty system into a country; to maintain the tributary system as the order of Asia without being affected by the Westphalian sovereign state system and to become a separate state relationship model and maintain it is the rise of the Celestial Dynasty ; while the system collapsed, most of the vassal states became independent and even a union was not established, and the Westphalian system became the only choice, which was a tragedy for the Chinese dynasty.

Tian Xingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement, after all, it still depends on the weight of a system's discourse power, and it depends on self-struggle.

Chapter 90 Authorization

When the envoys of Junfu City were still communicating with Tokugawa Ieyasu, Chen Jian was already ready to return to Wangbei City from Ryukyu.

The ships of the Satsuma Navy Navy picked some that could be repaired and carried out major repairs in Naha Port. Of the more than 200 small boats, only [-] to [-] can be used. The tonnage is very small, and they are all typical Japanese boats.

Although it is not suitable for loading or sea battles in the open sea, it should not be a problem to transport people across the Taiwan Strait. When returning, there is no one to load, and most of them are loaded with rice or dried sweet potatoes.

Chen Jian asked King Shangning that the cost of sending troops to rescue the crisis is not high, and only needs King Shangning to pay with rice.The contrast caused by the burning, killing, and looting of the Satsuma domain also made the people of Ryukyu have a lot of good feelings for this army that was bought with money but did not commit large-scale robbery and rape. Gave something as thanks.

Before leaving, Chen Jian bought some grain from Ryukyu on credit. Although the grain output of Ryukyu itself is not high, there are still a lot of them gathered by various gentry.

On the way back, the Ryukyu envoys also took Chen Jian’s boat to Fujian, and went to Beijing to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty to thank Ming for sending troops. By the way, they made another tribute in the name of gratitude, which was hard to refuse.

It was already June when the fleet returned to Wangbei City. As soon as it docked, some people who stayed in Wangbei City hurriedly found Chen Jian.

"Just got the news that there is a flood in Fujian."

This is what Chen Jian explained before he left. This time he didn't do a magic trick, he just said to pay attention to the situation in Fujian, and deal with it immediately if there is any problem.

Unless the weather is favorable, with the current productivity and scattered smallholder operations, a random disaster will cause tens of thousands of victims, especially when grassroots organizations completely collapse and water conservancy projects are difficult to accomplish.

The people who came to Chen Jian to tell the news didn't care about winning or losing at all, or they didn't need to care about an inevitable event, but they were extremely concerned about the flood.

Whether it is out of pity for the fate of the people in the world, or because the profit of land rent is higher than trade when the land and population are large enough, this time the flood in Fujian must be taken seriously in Wangbei City.

Chen Jian is still clear about his family background. He has been preparing for shortages since last year and has accumulated rice bought from various places for more than a year. The 3 or [-] people who fled this time are still enough to last until next year.

In fact, there can be more, but if you take this opportunity to make a fortune and sell some of the rice at a high price, you can recover the principal, so you can only choose to accommodate 3 to [-] people.

Hearing the exact news, Chen Jian asked several officers on board the ship and some people in charge of civil affairs in Wangbei City to prepare for the celebration of this great victory, and exhibit a large number of heads pickled with salt and lime. .Many of the first batch of residents of Wangbei City were from Quanzhou, so they knew the Japanese pirates very well. If they were from other places, it would have no effect.

He no longer took charge of this matter himself, and called some management personnel in the city and on board the ship, and secretly discussed the issue of taking the opportunity to make a fortune, gain fame, and attract disaster victims who came to visit Beicheng.

The statistician who was a guest of the company's accountant first talked about the situation of grain storage.

"Basically, that's the number. Excluding the rations and the purchase of cattle, ironware and other rice sold at high prices in the future, we can accommodate up to 5000 people."

A row of people sitting there looked at the number and asked, "According to this number, we can take in some more. Thirty thousand to forty thousand shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"No. Forty thousand is the limit. It is based on the fact that these people will plant sweet potatoes after they come, and there will be no famine or disaster on our side. But we can't do this. Once something goes wrong here, these 4 people I am afraid that there will be a large-scale revolt, and everything we have accumulated before will be wiped out, so there must be allowances."