different warring states of japan

Chapter 1846 Expanded Southern Barbarian Trade

The Dutch were good at sea trade, and the British had plundering ships across the Atlantic. The two sides now had a common enemy, the Westerners and the Portuguese, who had the first-mover advantage in large-scale navigation, so they naturally cooperated seamlessly.

If one day the Iberian Peninsula weakens, Britain and the Netherlands may not be so close, and may even turn against each other for overseas interests.

This is the normal state of European countries. There are no friends or enemies, only interests.

Lilu is a Dutch businessman and Kristina is a retired British officer. It is not too difficult for the two of them to get two thirty-pound Fran cannons from the Dutch fleet visiting Southeast Asia.

The island country is already a world-famous treasure island. The Portuguese and Westerners are engaged in transshipment trade between the island countries of China, and the Dutch naturally want a share of the pie.

The Westerners have Luzon, the Portuguese have Macau, and later the Dutch have not found a reliable foothold in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, so they have adventures and explorations again and again.

A fleet visit is a dual political and military mission. It requires familiarity with hydrology and geography, finding good ports, and establishing contact with local forces.

The Spo family had already shown signs of unifying the island country. Under the persuasion of Lilu, a fellow countryman, the Dutch visiting fleet invested in two thirty-pound cannons to establish a good relationship with the future master of the island country.

That's a good start.

Yiyin has some knowledge of the history of the Age of Discovery. The Portuguese, Westerners, Dutch, and British have risen one after another. He can take advantage of the conflicts of interest among these southern barbarians to make profits for himself.

The game rules set by the Portuguese and Westerners not to import artillery to the island country have been broken by the Dutch. What does the thirty-pounder gun mean to this island country?
The martial arts families in the island country lack the ability to siege cities. When faced with strong mountain fortresses, they often have only two methods: siege and persuading them to surrender. The cost of a strong attack is too high, and the general martial arts family cannot afford it.

The islanders' city-building methods never considered the protection of artillery.

Dayou's family was in Kyushu, and they relied on the artillery provided by the Portuguese to attack the city in one fell swoop. They were so happy that the country collapsed, and even the family governor converted to the Nanman religion.

After that, the daimyos of Kitakyushu began to believe in the Nanman religion. It is difficult to say that it did not play a role in the collapse of the country.

But now, the two thirty-pound artillery pieces in front of Yoshigan are far more powerful than the Otomo family's Kokubang.

Yi Yin sighed.

"These two Fran cannons are good, but they are too bulky. The island country is mountainous and the roads are rugged, making it inconvenient to transport them.

If you can buy more three-pounders and six-pounders, the effect may be better and more practical. "

Christina smiled.

“The casting process of the thirty-pounder cannon is complicated and difficult for island countries to copy, so I tried my best to ask Lilu to buy them.

As for the three-pounder cannon and the six-pounder cannon, we can actually imitate and cast them ourselves. "

Yiyin was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

"You mean we can make our own cannons? Is the casting level of the island country really good?"

Christina answered seriously.

"The craftsmanship of the island country is a bit worse, but there is a lot of copper here. The craftsmanship of bronze cannons is simpler than that of iron cannons, it is not easy to explode the chamber, and it is lighter. Of course we can imitate it."

Yi Yin asked.

"Since bronze cannons have so many benefits, why don't you southern barbarians make bronze cannons?"

Lilu interjected from the side.

"Honored Saint, you don't know something.

The manufacturing process of bronze cannons is simpler, but the finished products are not as durable as iron cannons. The barrels are easily deformed and their service life will be shorter.

More importantly, copper was very expensive. The price of a bronze cannon was four to ten times that of an iron cannon of the same weight.

Expensive and short lifespan means the cost is too high. No one except the wealthy Ottoman Sultan can afford a large number of bronze cannons.

In fact, there are bronze cannons in Europe, but they are usually three-pound cannons and six-pound cannons that are easy to move in the field, and only wealthy legal people are willing to equip the army with more equipment.

But it's different here. There is no shortage of copper in the island country, and the quality of copper is still very high. As long as there are professional guidance, the craftsmen here can make bronze cannons.

Although it is not as good as the iron cannon on our ship, the quality will be worse and the service life will be shorter, but there is not much difference in power.

Compared to buying foreign artillery at high prices, Kristina and I believe that it is more cost-effective to imitate the artillery ourselves. "

Yiyin nodded and smiled.

"You're right. It's better to teach someone to fish than to teach him to fish. Being able to imitate artillery is the best choice. Even if it's more expensive, you should try it.

I will fully support you and we must produce locally produced bronze cannons. "

Christina smiled.

"Actually, it's not just bronze cannons. The island country is mountainous and has countless tall trees in the mountain streams.

We can also use local materials to make wooden cannons to attack the enemy when needed. "

Yiyin was taken aback.

"Can cannons be made from wood?"

Kristina nodded.

“As long as the amount of gunpowder is calculated, hollowed-out giant trees can also serve as barrels.

It's just that the dug-out wooden side wall can't withstand too much use, and it can only be fired two or three times at most. If it is used multiple times, there is a danger of the chamber exploding.

Moreover, there will be a limit on the number of pounds, and only three or six pound shells can be fired. "

Yi Yin nodded.

By purchasing large iron cannons weighing more than ten pounds, making their own three- and six-pound bronze cannons, and making improvised wooden cannons, the Spo family could even pull out hundreds of cannons in a war if they were willing.

Artillery is the god of war. Thinking of the scene where a hundred cannons fired in unison, scaring the enemy to the point of peeing, Yiyin couldn't help but smile.

"Very good, very good, try your best to realize your ideas."

Kristina bowed to Yiyin.

"Honorable saint, in order to build the Shiba family's artillery team, I need to recruit elites.

There are many retired officers and gunners like me in Southeast Asia. They follow ships to Southeast Asia in search of opportunities to make a fortune.

If you can give them generous treatment, I am confident to persuade them to serve you.

In addition, I need a group of island warriors who are proficient in arithmetic. I will teach them algebraic geometry, ballistic correction and other artillery-related knowledge.

The Sibo family needs to train its own artillery soldiers and cannot always rely on external mercenaries. "

Yiyin thought for a moment and waved to the Hamo clan behind him.

“From today on, Kristina will be fully responsible for the establishment of the Spo Artillery Team. Money is given to money, people are given to people, and resources are given to resources.

The southern barbarian officers and gunners recruited by Kristina were all paid in gold, with an annual salary starting from [-] dan.

All Ji warriors who are selected into the artillery team will be awarded the Sibo rank, and knowledge and action will start with a hundred stones.

As for the selection of specific personnel, I ask Kristina to take your time. "Yi Yin's attitude is very firm. The artillery brigade must be launched, and it must be carried out in a big way.

I originally thought that Kristina could at best add three or two kittens to the previous three-pounder and six-pounder cannons to form a southern barbarian artillery team.

I didn't expect this red-haired British woman to be so tough. If she wanted to do something big, she would do it big. She was ambitious and wanted to create a professional artillery unit.

Want to say that Yiyinzhi does not support it?Of course that’s support!

Oda Nobunaga's side was once again close to the Nanman Sect. The spear and iron cannon formations trained by the Nanman armed monks became increasingly effective in combat and completely suppressed the traditional military tactics of the island nation.

Yoshigan could not be as aggressive as Oda Nobunaga and launch a large-scale army to attack from all sides, but he also needed a trump card to restrain Oda Nobunaga's arrogance.

The Oda family's iron cannon and spear array is a modern phalanx derived from the Iberian Peninsula. It was localized and transformed by members of the Knights Hospitaller, making it more suitable for island country operations.

The artillery unit that Yiyin plans to establish is the nemesis of the dense phalanx, and can be called a dimensionality reduction strike.

On the European continent, the way for the phalanx to counterattack the artillery was to set up elite cavalry on both wings to raid the artillery positions first.

But this method is useless in island countries.

The so-called cavalry in the island country's martial arts is actually horse-mounted infantry. The mountainous terrain here is not conducive to concentrated cavalry charges, so there are few examples of pure cavalry warfare in the island country.

As long as this artillery unit in Yoshigan's hands is used properly, it can become the nemesis of the Oda Army and a trump card of the Shiba family.

In order to cultivate this trump card, Yiyin was naturally willing to spend money, and Baishi Zhixing spread it out as if it was free of money.

A heavy cannon requires four people to serve, and a light cannon requires two people to handle it. If Kristina had to put together dozens of cannons, the Spo family would have to spend at least tens of thousands of stones to support the people.

This is just to support people, and the money spent on casting cannons is only a lot more, as well as the consumption of gunpowder and cannonballs. Only the wealthy Spo family can afford such expensive firearms.

Generally speaking, a martial artist would feel pain playing with an iron cannon. How could he have so much money to build an artillery cluster and concentrate the military capabilities of hundreds of artillery operations? That's why Yiyin dared to try it.

While speaking, Yiyin had turned around and walked down the observation hill, looking at Lilu as he walked.

"How are the negotiations with the Nanman merchants going?"

Lilu puffed up her chest proudly and said.

“The Portuguese have just opened up Macau in China and obtained more trade goods, but now they only lack trading objects.

Europe was too far away, and except for valuable commodities such as silk, tea, and porcelain, general commodities had no commercial value worthy of a long voyage.

Merchant ships sail with the monsoon, from Luzon to Macau and back again, with a stagnant period of more than half a year. Most merchants prefer to follow the monsoon and take a Northeast Asian route to make more money.

In Northeast Asia, the trade value of North Korea and Ryukyu is far less than that of the island countries. The island countries not only have precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper, but also special products such as paper fans, lacquerware, and Japanese swords.

Nanman merchants can use this route to import to us sugar, salt, medicine, cloth, books, iron pots, fishing nets, silver needles and other commodities needed by the island country.

There are huge business opportunities in this, and even the Nanman Cult cannot stop the desire of Nanman merchants to trade.

As the general agent of the Nanman shogunate, I communicated with the Nanman merchants. Their attitude was very positive and they were willing to give up profits as long as they could promote more trade.

It's really sad that tomorrow's trade, a golden line of mutual benefit, has been actively cut off by China.

Incredibly, the trade gains that drove Nanman merchants crazy were not worth mentioning in the eyes of the Celestial Empire and could be ignored. "

Yi Yin shook his head.

“There will come a day, and trade will definitely be reopened tomorrow.

How much profit are those Nanman merchants willing to give up?How much trade volume will be increased? "

Lilu said.

“The opening of Macau was an accident. It was a foothold obtained by Portuguese merchant ships by bribing the Chinese patrol officials on the pretext of borrowing land to dry their goods.

Of course, the Portuguese have tasted the benefits here and have begun to contact officials at the chief envoy level, hoping to officially lease Macau.

The Portuguese even hope that China can set up tariff barriers in Macau. As long as they can get trade channels recognized by China, they don't mind paying a little more.

Because China restricted the outflow of goods, the goods obtained by the Portuguese in Macau could be sold at high prices elsewhere, and the tax collected by China was not much.

But the problem now is that the Portuguese have not yet got through to the Chinese government, but have only obtained the land through bribery, and the goods channel is equivalent to smuggling.

Therefore, they do not dare to be too ostentatious. For the time being, they can only increase the cargo transshipment volume of Tianchao by [-]%, but the price can be reduced by [-]%.

Of course, [-]% of the new goods and the [-]% discount will only be through the Nanman general agent channel, through bulk trade, and will not participate in market retail. "

Yiyin laughed.

"Are they afraid that we will default on our debt? Or are they afraid that the goods will not be sold?"

Lilu shrugged.

"The island country is very harsh on Nanman merchants, especially here in Kinki. Nanman people are not even allowed to disembark for trade. The church area on the shore was also bought with a lot of money, which was not easy.

The amount of goods was too large, and the Nanman merchants had to rush back in time for the monsoon, so they couldn't delay, so they hoped to buy it all at once through bulk trade.

Of course, the price is very affordable. "

Yiyin nodded.

"Indeed, very affordable."

[-]% more goods will be imported and a [-]% discount will be given. If this business is completed, the Sibo family will make a fortune.

The materials imported by China to the island country may seem inconspicuous, but they are actually very important. They are all necessities of life.

Sugar, salt, and cloth are also produced in island countries, but on the one hand, there is not enough, and on the other hand, the quality is too poor. Chinese goods are high-quality goods, synonymous with luxury goods.

Iron pots, fishing nets, and silver needles are all necessities. They are indispensable for cooking, fishing, sewing, and daily life.

Although these things may seem inconspicuous, they are actually high-tech products from ancient times that island countries simply cannot produce.

The most important thing is that whether it is food or food, these are consumables. They will be eaten up and worn out, and new ones need to be purchased from time to time.

Products for daily consumption are the most profitable because customers will buy them repeatedly and will not change channels casually once they become dependent.

Therefore, the shipment volume is large and the profit is stable, making it the best product.

The import trade of the island country first goes through Ryukyu, and the second goes through Korea, passes through Kyushu Hakata Port, Shimonoseki Strait, enters the Seto Inland Sea, disembarks through Sakai Port, takes Tokaido Hokuriku Road, and enters Kanto.

The current value of imported goods from the island country is 100 million guan when entering Hakata Port, increasing to 200 million guan when arriving at Sakai Port, and increasing to 500 million guan via the Tokaido-Hokurikudo trade route.

Because of the scarcity of Chinese goods, the price of necessities distributed to all parts of the island country is unlimited.

This is like the relationship between the Mongolian grassland and the Central Plains. The Mongolian grassland needs the salt, iron and tea cloth from the Central Plains. Either buy it or rob it, and you have to find a way to get it back.

These are called necessities of life. Without them, it is impossible to live.

(End of this chapter)