Xinshun 1730

Chapter 468 Passive to Active

After taking the money, the two chatted for a while about Japan's grain sales system.

While listening, write it down carefully in a small notebook.

I also asked about the details of the Honma Kosaku family's rice planting and trading in Sakata.Think of it as a social survey.

Honma's ancient works naturally know everything and say everything.Although he is young, he comes from a good family background, and has seen and heard since he was a child. At this moment, he has the heart to hug his thigh, and keeps shaking out all the details he knows.

It was very late, and all the questions that should be asked were almost asked, Liu Yu asked someone to send the ancient works of Honma and left.

The second day still did not set sail.

On the north side of the strait, the group of feudal lords are still visiting Zhaoren to talk about some things, and it is estimated that they will have to toss for a few days.

Separated by a strait, Liu Yu does not look at injustice, and does not go to the north to watch them transgressing etiquette.

In the north, he was receiving feudal lords and samurai; in the south, Liu Yu was looking for businessmen, farmers, and townspeople near Xiaocang, talking with them, asking about taxes, labor, income, how much money they can afford to buy cloth, and the price of salt, etc. .

After tossing and tossing for nearly seven or eight days, I was able to set sail.

The Jieying Temple where the North Korean communication envoy stayed before has been repaired according to the scene of the contract exchange. Both sides checked and confirmed that there is no problem. The boats set sail at the same time.

The flag of the Japanese royal family was hoisted, accompanied by warships, it looked like a guard of honor, very majestic, and it was enough to give the other party face.

Stopping and stopping along the way, the hired navigator of the ship running north led the way on board, and the people on the warship recorded where there were reefs and undercurrents along the way.

The Seto Inland Sea is not suitable for this kind of soft sailing boats. Many places are too narrow, and it is difficult to show the advantages of soft sailing boats at sea.

When stopping at the islands near the Okayama Fan halfway, Liu Yu asked the people on the maritime side about the choice of future routes.

Xu Tao also felt a little inconvenient, but he had his own considerations.

"My lord, in fact, going to Osaka, this route is really not suitable for us."

"But there is also an advantage to going this route. The shogunate will definitely try its best to restrain the Japanese people and not act like pirates, and it will save a lot of trouble."

"If you don't consider the issue of pirates, it is actually more convenient to take the Songjiang and Ryukyu routes after the opening of the Wa Kingdom."

"First of all, we traded a lot with the Japanese before, so we know what the Japanese like. If we talk about bulk cargo, it must be mainly sucrose and raw silk. These are all goods from the south, and they all set sail in Songjiang, and everyone is used to taking the Ryukyu route. gone."

"As it happens, Nagasaki, Tosa, and Hyogotsu in Osaka, that is, Kobe, are all on the same route. This is the southern route."

"For the northern line, the goods from Songjiang and Liaodong converge in Weihai, from Weihai to Busan, and then to Yonago."

"It's all convenient."

"But besides convenience, there are other things to consider. The main thing is to worry about the pirates from Ryukyu and Satsuma. Now that the tribute from Ryukyu has been cut off, trade is no longer possible. Many people can't make a living, and most of them will take risks. I'm not afraid of being blamed by adults. , Those of us who are maritime merchants, the adults know it well. If you have legitimate business, you are a merchant, and if you don’t have legitimate business, you are a thief."

"Not only those from Satsuma and Ryukyu, but also the group of people who traveled to Nanyang, as well as the Dutch red-haired ghosts. Seeing that this route makes money, but they can't get involved, most of them will think about grabbing it."

"Weighing the pros and cons, it's safer to go down the border. If the shogunate is not collapsed, this road will be absolutely safe."

Along the way, Liu Yu was also tortured by the sea conditions of the Seto Inland Sea.It is very suitable for small boats like Japan, but if you want to talk about the large sailing ships of trading companies in the future, it is indeed far less convenient than going to the open sea.

He was also worried that these sea merchants would take the southern route, so he first asked the sea merchant leader what he thought, and he was relieved when he heard that the sea merchant leader still chose to take the Xiaguan route after weighing things up.

The Dutch's methods have always been disgusting. If they can't play smart, they will play dirty.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, because of lack of money, the sea merchants all went to Luzon to trade with the wealthy Spain. The Dutch supported Zheng Zhilong and others to hijack the ship to Luzon and force the sea merchants to trade in Batavia.

Now that the Ryukyu tribute is cut off, the trade with the Satsuma domain is also over. So many people who make a living at sea have been cut off from their sources of income, and they must have the heart of thieves.

There is no shortage of people who want to be thieves, and there is no shortage of people who want to support pirates.

The Dutchman has a criminal record, and this game is quite slippery, so it is really necessary to guard against.

If you want to cure the root cause, you have to completely expel the Dutch from Nanyang.

However, now is not the time to take advantage of the turmoil in Europe to destroy the Netherlands at once, otherwise the trade with Europe will never develop. After passing India, the Dutch will be able to bankrupt Dashun's merchant ships that will go to Europe in the future.

Now that the Japanese affairs have been dealt with, we have to continue wrangling with the Netherlands for the time being, transfer some benefits appropriately, and deceive the Dutch.

It can be predicted that the Dutch will definitely contact Satsuma and Ryukyu quietly and behind Dashun's back.

Liu Yu is also worried that the maritime merchants will directly conflict with the Dutch at sea, and the maritime merchants are not good at dealing with it.Without the imperial court's endorsement, they dared to forcibly break into the Xiaguan Strait; now that they have the imperial court's endorsement, these maritime merchants would absolutely dare to start a movie with the Dutch.

It's not that I can't afford it, but now is not the time.That being the case, it is better to hide for a while and take the Xiaguan route. The purpose of supporting the shogunate is precisely to maintain basic law and order.

After avoiding the limelight for two or three years, if the pirates have no ships to rob, the Dutch can only stare blankly.They never dared to go to the waters from Dashun to Shimonoseki to make trouble, let alone blatantly go to the Seto Inland Sea.

"Since you have weighed the pros and cons, let's make this decision. On the Ryukyu side, it happens to be a naval base and a warship cruise, so as to prevent the Japanese from linking up with Nanyang. Since you are sure not to take the southern route of the outer sea, it also saves the navy from cruising in Ryukyu. We still have to tell the truth from the fake.”

"This time the Dutch's trade is cut off, the Dutch may not let it go. It's better to avoid the limelight first."

Xu Tao laughed and said, "That's right. Cutting people's wealth is like killing their parents. In the early years when they traded in Nagasaki, the Dutch used hundreds of thousands of gold and silver a year. Now they are not allowed to trade, who knows that the Dutch will How to do it?"

with a smile on his lips,

I also smiled in my heart.It is still uncertain how effective the opening of the port will be, but as long as the Dutch are driven away, even if the total trade volume is not increased, just taking away the Dutch's share will cost hundreds of thousands of gold and silver a year.

Although it is mandatory for ships to go to sea to carry cannons, and the imperial court also allows eight to twelve cannons, the navy has not yet reached the first wave of decommissioning, and excellent gunners are still serving. Maritime merchants actually do not want this It is time to clash at sea with the Dutch, or the pirates supported by the Dutch.

The maritime merchants from Dashun who traveled to Nagasaki in the early years had all dealt with the Dutch, knew the virtues of the Dutch, and probably guessed what the Dutch did in their hearts.

After the imperial court came forward, the conflict on the surface might not happen, at least it would not be a ship flying the Dutch flag directly robbing Dashun's merchant ships.

But there will definitely be some small moves.After all, in Satsuma and Ryukyu, there are a large group of people who rely on the sea to eat, and their jobs are cut off, and they are not given a bowl of rice to eat, so they have to go back to their old jobs.

…………

While Liu Yu was discussing the Dutch with these sea merchants, the people from the Dutch trading house in Nagasaki also went to Osaka to visit Tokugawa Yoshimune.

They really want to know about the opening of Japan's port and whether the trade between Japan and the Netherlands will be affected in the future.

They refused to send troops before, thinking that this was a dispute over the eastern style of the tributary system, but now they got the news that Japan opened a port.

Even if they knew that Dashun was opening a port for Japan instead of the so-called tributary system, they would not help Japan. Instead, they might take the opportunity to contact Dashun and ask to send troops together.

But after the war was over, everyone knew that Japan was going to open a port, and the people in the Dutch business house were in a hurry.They hope that Japan can also allow the Dutch to enjoy the same treatment as Dashun.

After all, in Nagasaki, the two countries were the only ones that could trade with Japan.Now they want to be equal to one body, and they also want the conditions that Dashun can have.Of course, hope is hope, and reality is reality. They also know that Dashun can gather tens of thousands of troops to land in Japan. The Netherlands cannot do it anyway, but at least the previous trade volume should be guaranteed.

The Dutch East India Company and Batavia's operations in Asia have always been short of cash, and the annual trade with Japan can contribute a lot to Batavia's stretched cash.

However, after the Dutch arrived in Osaka, Yoshimune Tokugawa, who was already waiting here to greet Zhao Ren and meet Liu Yu, used a cunning method to delay the Dutch problem.

He neither said yes nor no, but said that the war had just ended and the treaty was only drafted, and that they would not discuss with the Dutch until the war with Dashun was completely over.

During the period, he also expressed some hope that the Dutch would support a batch of weapons. It seemed that he was trying to win over the Dutch and gave the Dutch great hope.

But in fact, Tokugawa Yoshimune fundamentally rejected the Dutch in his heart.

He agreed with his second son's opinion, and believed that now he should be honestly a loyal minister of Dashun, at least on the surface, and let the Dutch help Japan for their own purposes, instead of actively begging the Dutch.

However, the timing of rejection is skillful.

He has now given the Dutch great hope, and even revealed the idea that "the Tang people should not monopolize overseas trade". The implication seems to be that Japan wants to allow the Dutch to trade in five ports for their own benefit. .

But in fact, he wanted to wait for the tribute, and directly reject the Dutch on the grounds that "the heavens do not allow it".

Lead the contradiction between China and the Netherlands.

It is perfect to refuse with this reason.

Because, as a suzerain and vassal, the tributary state is theoretically not independent under the patriarchal system, at least it has no diplomatic power.

North Korea in the history of later generations tried to reject unequal treaties on the grounds that "North Korea is a vassal of the Qing Dynasty".Tokugawa Yoshimune is also planning to use this method to reject the Dutch and instigate conflicts between China and the Netherlands.

Or, the Dutch directly go to war with Dashun, forcing Dashun to agree that the Netherlands enjoys the same rights as Dashun at the five ports in Japan. It feels very familiar.It can be completely understood as the Eastern version of the "Navigation Regulations". Of course, the countermeasures are also ready-made, just hit it.

Or, the Dutch can only take the initiative to win over Japan, secretly fund and help, and strive to make Japan a useful tool against China.

As if with the help of Zhaoren being captured, Tokugawa Yoshimune played the banner of establishing a new king and fighting to the end, reversed the passive situation, and regained the moral initiative in the battle with the feudal clans.

This time, it also took advantage of the fact that the secret contract paid tribute, completely rejected the Netherlands, and showed Dashun's domineering rather than kingly way, which made the Netherlands feel pressure, and changed himself from the person who begged the Netherlands to send troops at the beginning of the war to the one who asked the Dutch to beg. Watching him receive help from Holland.

This move changed from passive to active, and at this time it pitted the Dutch into it.

The first thing in Arai Shiraishi's new policy was to halve the number of Dutch ships allowed to come to Nagasaki.Now Tokugawa Yoshimune has caught the greed in the hearts of the Dutch in the name of "five-port trade, don't let the Tang people dominate and monopolize prices".

Just wait for the moment when the Dutch are full of joy, and then simply reject the Dutch, you can completely direct the anger of the Dutch to Dashun, and Dashun has nothing to say: Japan is really a loyal minister, and the vassal is indeed You can't bypass the suzerain and foreign trade and diplomacy.

(End of this chapter)