Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1588 Talking about Taking Chestnuts from the Fire ([-])
Toyotomi Hideagashi's visit to Misaki Castle can be regarded as a heavy responsibility.His first question is to figure out the true purpose of the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance. After all, if he doesn't even know the purpose of the other party, the follow-up talk will be fussy, and it is very likely that he will be sold and count the money.

Luo Yuan still routinely stated that the Maritime Trade Alliance settled in Misaki City only for "free trade" and had no intention of actively interfering in any other affairs.

Toyotomi Hideonaga was dubious, and asked: "It's not that I am suspicious, but Your Highness should be aware of the battle that took place in the southwest of Ninja Castle a few days ago - His Highness Hidekatsu of our army is sure that the opponent he met was definitely not anyone from the Hojo family. The army, and its flag is flying, it is the book and sword flag of your army."

"Oh, what Da Nayan is talking about is my Marine Corps? This is true." Luo Yuan did not hide it, and said calmly: "The Marine Corps is here to meet my master. Narita Kai, who was chasing after her, had already been given to my lord as a concubine by her father Narita. Since she is the wife of our Kanto Squadron, how could she be lost? Therefore, our Marine Corps had to fight. "

This answer was somewhat beyond Toyotomi Hideaga's expectation. He was slightly taken aback, and immediately said: "Since your Highness said so, can I understand that the previous battle was just a misunderstanding?"

Luo Yuan saw that Toyotomi Hideonaga's answer was very good, so naturally he immediately went down the steps, and said with a smile: "It's only natural, it's a complete misunderstanding. My squadron and the Marine Corps all admire His Excellency Guan Bai very much. It's a matter of Madam's name, how can we resort to force without asking? Please be considerate and considerate of this point."

The two of them called each other His Highness, and the other called each other Your Excellency, and they didn't feel awkward at all. They were really talking to themselves.

After hearing this, Toyotomi Hidecho breathed a sigh of relief.Although it is a little surprising that the head of the Narita family is willing to send his daughter to others, after all, although his family's strength is not good, his family status is still not low.But there is this layer of reason in it, at least there is an explanation for the last battle, and I can explain it to my brother when I go back.Presumably with my elder brother's wisdom, he must be able to distinguish between the important and the secondary.

"Your lord is Wen Zong, an important minister of the Confucian family in the upper kingdom. The fact that the Narita family can get married to your lord is the result of the blessings of the third generation." Toyotomi Hidecho gave a casual compliment, and then changed the subject, saying: "But when it comes to your lord, I suddenly remembered something, and I hope I can bother you a few words while I can see His Highness today."

"Oh? Your Excellency Da Nayan has something to say, but it's okay to say it." Luo Yuan replied.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Toyotomi Hidetomi twitched his beard and said, "Previously, the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance built a crystal building in Shimizu City, Kyushu. My brother can still understand that the Shimadzu family's territory is the closest to Shangguo, but this time the Maritime Trade Alliance is in Kanto. The settlement of Misaki City must also build another crystal building.

Both the west and the east can be traded independently. Why is it that I, the outer port of Kyoto, failed to win the favor of the Maritime Trade Alliance? I have never heard that the alliance has built a crystal tower in the Osaka city? "

"Speaking of this matter, I'm not ignorant, but..." Luo Yuan sighed, shook his head helplessly, and said, "I have something to say, but I don't know whether Da Nayan wants to hear the truth or a lie. ?”

"Of course it's the truth." Toyotomi Hideaga said decisively: "I will tell you, Your Highness, this matter is of great importance to us in Japan. How can I make a lie to tell you off?"

"Okay then, let me tell you the truth."

Toyotomi Hideonaga looked serious, nodded and stretched out his hand to lead: "Please inform me, Your Highness."

Luo Yuandao: "Does Da Nayan know what the Shimadzu family paid for the Sea Trade Alliance to set up the first crystal building in Qingshui City?"

Toyotomi Hideonaga was stunned, and said hesitantly: "This... I have been recuperating from illness recently, and I have never heard of the inside story. Please give me your Highness's advice."

Luo Yuan smiled and said: "To be honest, the Shimadzu family handed over the defenses of Qingshui City to our Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance for their own disposal, and Qingshui City will be exempted from taxation for three years."

Toyotomi Hidecho felt very troubled when he heard this.Needless to say, the importance of Osaka Castle to the Toyotomi family, it is impossible to hand over the defense of the city to the Maritime Trade Alliance, and exempt it for three years... Although this clause will greatly affect income, it may even increase prices. Great volatility, but at least something to talk about.After all, there are only three years, and it will pass after gritting your teeth and enduring it. In the long run, it is still worthwhile.

The problem is that the Maritime Trade Alliance wants to garrison its own troops and control the city defense. Toyotomi Hidetomi doesn't need to go back and ask his brother about this, because the answer is obvious, absolutely impossible.

Since there was really no way to accommodate this point, Toyotomi Hideaga had no choice but to say it directly, and then waited for Luo Yuan's response.

Sure enough, Luo Yuan obviously had a pre-judgment on this, and said with a smile at the time: "My master also guessed like this, so there was no such plan before. According to my master's estimation, from the perspective of trade, one west and one east Two crystal buildings are basically enough to cover Japanese trade."

Whether Gao Wushi is really satisfied or not, Hidetomi doesn't know, but he knows that his brother is definitely not satisfied, so he can only ask with a wry smile, "Can't we find another way to accommodate this matter?"

Luo Yuan showed a slightly displeased expression on his face, and frowned, "Your attitude is firm, and I don't think there is anything that can be accommodated. In this way, you want my maritime trade alliance to accommodate unilaterally? With all due respect, that's not called Accommodating, that’s called giving in.”

Toyotomi Hideaga said with a hint of apologetic smile, "This...you can't say that. Although the defense of Osaka City is indeed inflexible, I can still discuss with His Highness on behalf of Lord Guanbai on other aspects of the conditions. Well."

"Your Excellency Da Nayan, I'm not a lobbyist, and I'm not used to beating around the bush with some things, so let's just say it straight." Luo Yuan's expression became a little colder, and he said: "My master didn't have any other instructions, but according to what I said to the master I am willing to take some risks to make a suggestion for Da Nayan: If the situation of Osaka Castle is special and we cannot allow our troops to garrison and control the city defense where the Crystal Tower is located, then we can also set aside a certain city near Osaka Castle as the crystal tower. The place of establishment, the requirements for garrisoning troops and taking over the city defense cannot be changed."

"This..." Toyotomi Hideaga hesitated, rolled his eyes, and asked, "I don't know your side...or what do you personally think is suitable, Your Highness?"

Toyotomi Hidecho's words actually had some probing meaning, and Luo Yuan didn't know if he heard it, but he answered quickly and neatly: "What I said below was just a temporary thought because of the mention of Da Nayan. I didn't think about it before, so I can't talk about it. If you have any thoughts, you can tell me."

"Please allow me to think about it." Toyotomi Hidecho fell into thinking after speaking.Luo Yuan didn't urge him either, and let him think for a long while before he heard Toyotomi Hideaga say, "Your Highness, what do you think of Sakaimachi?"

"Oh, Sakamachi?" Now, it was Luo Yuan's turn to think.

The meaning of "cho" has been explained before, which is roughly equivalent to a market, and the place name "Sakai" first appeared in the Heian period because it is located at the border of the three countries (Settsu, Hanoi, and Izumi), which means The border, so the original meaning of Sakaimachi is the border market.

This place was very special a few years ago, what is so special about it?It is special because it was a very rare "autonomous city" in East Asia at that time.

As we all know, ancient East Asia was different from Europe. East Asia had a relatively high degree of centralization and feudal forces were very strong, so cities were generally controlled by the central government, and so-called "urban autonomous bodies" rarely appeared.

However, there will still be very special areas in some extremely special periods, such as areas that are difficult for the imperial court to enter, or areas where many forces meet in troubled times, such as the seat of the Eastern Zhou court in the Warring States period. Luoyang, and Sakai Town in Japan.

For a city to become a separate entity, it will naturally have to be powerful, and Sakaimachi meets this condition.You must know that the commerce here was very developed at that time, and it should be said that it was extremely developed. Merchants from the three countries of Settsu, Hanoi, and Izumi would gather here to do business, so it was a highly commercialized city, a bit like a certain period. Venice.

More importantly, because Linhai is also a port, it is also the center of exploration and cooperation trade in the future, and has maintained super high prosperity for a long time.With a lot of wealth, the rise of local merchants, and the weak control of the Ashikaga shogunate at this time, Sakaicho slowly developed into a new type of autonomous city.

The leaders of the local industry and commerce played a major role in the Warring States Period. In order to avoid being affected by the war, the local merchants organized a congregation to manage the place in an autonomous manner, and built a moat around the city to maintain the independence of Sakai Town without being affiliated. any lord.At that time, this situation surprised the "Southern barbarians" such as the Portuguese and Spaniards, and was called an autonomous city like Venice by the Western missionaries who came to Japan at that time.

Sakaimachi's style of doing things is very simple: we only do business to make money, and I don't care how you fight among the big names.

At that time, the rules and regulations of Sakaimachi were completely managed by the residents themselves, and there was a special litigation trial organization called "Ten People" among the residents.Later, it developed into a 36-member congregation, representing the interests of the residents.

In terms of urban construction, there are moats filled with water around Sakai, and the two ends of each town are also separated from each other by wooden boards, which are locked at night to protect the safety of the town.In the commercial field, ordinary businessmen in the same industry also have their own "seats" to regulate each other's business behavior.

During the exploration and cooperation period, this place became rich due to the trade with the Ming Dynasty, which had a great impact on the surrounding areas.It has even spread overseas, and there are still roads bearing the name of Sakai Town in various parts of Japan and even overseas countries in later generations.Basically, from the middle of the 15th century, Sakai reached its heyday as an international trade metropolis thanks to the huge wealth accumulated in the trade with Ming Dynasty.There were even a lot of Europeans, mainly Portuguese, who came here to set up shop.

However, in ancient East Asia, an autonomous city like Sakai-cho could not last long. The nature of Sakai-cho’s self-government was only a loophole because of the separatist disputes and weak ruling ability of the Warring States period.When the situation stabilized, it was impossible for the daimyos to allow such a wealthy place to escape from their control, and it was impossible for these industrial and commercial forces to resist the army of feudal lords.

After the rise of Oda Nobunaga, Sakaimachi surrendered to Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi successively. A few years ago, because Toyotomi Hideyoshi decided to set the political center in Osaka, the merchants in Sakaimachi were coerced by his strict order and almost all moved to Osaka.Since then, Sakai Town has only the function of a port, which is naturally not as good as before.

Toyotomi Hidecho's proposal at this time is to hand over the Sakai town, which only has a port function, to the Maritime Trade Alliance.Undoubtedly, he should do this in the hope of using the strong trade power of the Sea Trade Alliance to make Sakai Town prosperous again, and handing it over to the Sea Trade Alliance also means that it is impossible for Sakai Town to return to the previous state of autonomy.

The Maritime Trade Alliance is actually self-governing, but Toyotomi Hidecho's mentality is similar to "it is better to give gifts to friends than to be slaves." In fact, they all think so.

Luo Yuan thought for a while, then frowned and said: "Although Sakai-cho is close to Osaka Castle, but because the merchants have already migrated, there are probably not many people there right now? Your Excellency, such a city..."

Toyotomi Hideaga hurriedly said: "Hey, Your Highness does not know, although the merchants in Sakai Town have relocated, the population loss is not too great. With the strength of the Maritime Trade Alliance, once they settle in Sakai Town, the local prosperity is just around the corner. Besides, as far as I know, you have always attached great importance to the seaport, and the advantage of Sakaimachi lies in the seaport. It has always been a large port in Japan, with various facilities quite complete, and the number of sea-going ships that can berth is also quite large. It is suitable for the deployment of the Sea Trade Alliance."

That's true. After all, building a seaport not only requires a good port, but also requires a lot of money to build it. Not counting the delay in the construction period itself, it is also valuable.

Luo Yuan pondered for a moment, nodded, and said: "In principle, I can agree, but I have already said before, about the garrison and city defense issues..."

Toyotomi Hideaga thought for so long just now, he had already figured out this question, and immediately said: "I have a few suggestions, please consider it or convey it to your lord, Your Highness."

Luo Yuan nodded, and said: "Please come and listen to me."

"Don't dare." Toyotomi Hideo said: "After all, Sakai Town is very close to Osaka Castle. Even if Kanbai respects your previous habits and allows Sakai Town to be stationed by your side and take charge of the city defense, there are two conditions that I still hope." You can agree. First, your garrison personnel should not be too many; second, you only manage the city defense, and Guan Bai has the right to send various officials to Sakai Town to manage the daily affairs of Sakai Town."

Sakai-cho is indeed very close to Osaka Castle. In later generations, Sakai-cho has been renamed Sakai City, which is the satellite city of Osaka.Being so close, if the Maritime Trade Alliance puts a large army here, it would obviously be too exciting for Toyotomi Hideyoshi, so Luo Yuan nodded and said: "The first one is here, and I can agree to it now: we promise to be in Sakaicho." The garrison will not exceed [-] at most."

Unexpectedly, Toyotomi Hideo shook his head and said quickly: "Ten thousand is too much, too much." Seeing Luo Yuan frowned, he quickly explained: "Sakai-cho is close to Osaka Castle, so it is actually very safe in terms of safety." There is no need for so many soldiers. In my opinion, 3000 troops stationed by your side are enough to ensure public order in the city.”

Luo Yuan shook his head and said: "Based on the establishment of the land division of our maritime trade alliance, it is difficult to arrange 3000 people. To be honest, your Excellency, the land division of our maritime trade alliance generally uses towns as the basic unit, and a town has 12512 people It is actually very embarrassing to agree to limit the number of people to less than [-], because there can only be two infantry associations stationed there, and the town's horse marks and artillery marks cannot be carried."

Toyotomi Hideaga also asked about the configuration of the Sea Trade Alliance's land division—in fact, the configuration of Jinghua's land division, and then said: "Sorry Your Highness, in terms of your configuration, I suggest that the Sea Trade Alliance's configuration in Sakaicho The garrison should not exceed 38, and it is best to have only one infantry association, that is, [-] officers and soldiers."
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(End of this chapter)