Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 232 The Son of the Benevolent King
Lin Hai went to Japan this time on a Slupp sailing boat, and it only took three days to get from Tamsui to Nagasaki.

When he set foot on the land of Nagasaki, William Jansen's Galen ship had just left the port of Naha in Ryukyu and was almost halfway through the voyage, although he set off from Odai one day earlier than Lin Hai.

In other words, Lin Hai took less than half the time of William Jansen. This was of course not only due to the speed advantage of the Baistrup sailing ship, but also partly due to Lao Ruan's knowledge of the direct shipping routes between China, Japan and North Korea. development.

Now starting from Sijiao Mountain or Tamsui, whether the destination is Nagasaki or Jeju, Huiyu Company can already use the star-crossing technique to directly cross the East China Sea. This is undoubtedly an exploration of great strategic significance.

However, the speed advantage of the scissor Sloop sailing boat was also fully reflected in this voyage. The straight-line distance from Tamsui to Nagasaki is 2,600 miles. Lin Hai's Sloop boat ran an average of ten knots. Speed, this was in late September when the southerly wind was already weak.

After arriving in Nagasaki, Lin Hai gave the resident Tang Ren who came to divert the water a piece of Keicho Ding silver and asked him to report to Wuzhen Temple. Soon Ou Zuoji came out with several ronin guards.

"Second brother, why did you arrive suddenly?" Ou Zuoji was a little surprised. He had just returned from Keelung a month ago, and at that time he had not heard Lin Hai say that he wanted to come to Japan.

"What's going on? Are you not welcome?"

"Welcome, second brother, it's my turn to be the host tonight. Please go to Maruyama Huayue Tower to play the Eight-Nation Allied Forces..."

Lin Hai was speechless when he heard this. He hadn't seen him for just a month, and this kid looked a little weak and had a weak kidney. It seemed that he was really upset about not being able to bring women on board the ship. In Tamsui, he lived on a boat every day, and when he returned to Nagasaki, he hung out in the women's house all day long.

"Yes, who is that Mizuno you are talking about?"

However, this position itself is usually held by Hatamoto with a salary of about 3,000 koku. Once he leaves office, it is basically difficult to influence the shogunate's decision-making in foreign affairs.

The old monk didn't even ask Lin Hai how he planned to persuade Yixin Chongchuan. It seemed that after the Ziyi incident came true, he had no doubt that Lin Hai could communicate with Mazu.

This matter is good or bad, at least Lin Hai can't get any useful advice from Zhang Jingquan - the people's eyes are sharp, and pretending to be a ghost does have side effects.

"Zuo Ji, why don't you, kid, take it easy? You might get a disease..." Lin Hai felt that he had a big responsibility for what Ou Zuo Ji was like now.

It's a bit of a last-minute thing to establish a relationship with the new Mizuno Moranobu. Moreover, Hasegawa Fujimasa had previously asked Lin Hai to help him with the Ming Dynasty canonization. If he was still in office, then Lin Hai would only need to make some use of this matter. I believe this The trip to Japan will probably achieve the desired results.

But now everything is hard to say. While waiting for Zhang Jingquan at Wuzhen Temple, Lin Hai thought about it and decided not to follow the path of Nagasaki. After all, I don't know how long Mizuno Morinobu can last. Once he leaves office, he becomes an ordinary bannerman and does not have much energy in the Japanese political arena.

Only then did Lin Hai know that Nagasaki had changed its policy, and that the new person also had an official position in the imperial court, and he sounded more powerful than the previous Hasegawa Fujimasa. However, the old monk Zhang Jingquan finally stopped pretending to be dead in the temple. His visit to Nagasaki as a guest was good news for Lin Hai.

"What about Hasegawa Fujimasa? Who is your current position?" Lin Hai asked quickly. He had given this man a pair of Changbai Mountain old ginseng two years ago, plus two buckets of Dongzhu and four tiger skins.

"Okay..." Lin Hai was envious for a while. The young man still had an advantage. He had no interest in the poor people, and he was very skilled but he was afraid of causing trouble.

"I really don't know about this. He probably went back to his own territory." Ou Zuoji replied after hearing this.

"No, he went to visit Mizuno Kawauchi as a guest today." Ou Zuoji said and then said, "Second brother, do you have anything to do with my adoptive father?"

"What can happen to a poor monk? Everything depends on Tan Yue's order..."

"Zuo Ji, is your adoptive father in the temple today?" Lin Hai simply changed the subject and got down to business.

If he had known that Mizuno Moronobu would be appointed as Omatsuke in a few years, he would certainly not have thought this way. This was the highest censor of the Edo shogunate and the head of the secret service under the shogun. His ecological niche in the Japanese political arena was roughly equivalent to that of the Ming Dynasty's admiral Dongchang eunuch.

"It's Nagasaki Moshinobu. He just took office last year. His name is Mizuno Morinobu. Kawachi Mamoru is his official position."

"In this case, if Master is free, why not go to Kyoto with the juniors tomorrow?"

"Tan Yue has an order, and the poor monk should obey it." Zhang Jingquan agreed immediately, "I wonder when Tan Yue plans to set off?"

After Zhang Jingquan came back from the monastery, Lin Hai explained his purpose of coming to him, and then said: "Master Kongji, can you recommend Jindiyuan Chongchuan to this junior?"

Lin Hai had a headache when he heard this. Nagasaki had a lot of say in Japanese foreign affairs, especially when it came to Europeans, which held a decisive position.

But I heard Ou Zuoji laugh and say: "Don't worry, second brother, I only sleep with the servants, and I can't cause Hualiu disease."

After all, Lin Hai didn't go to the women's house with Ou Zuoji that night. Early the next morning, he transferred to Ou Zuoji's Japanese boat and went to Kyoto with Zhang Jingquan. The main reason is that the old monk is getting older and needs to change to a more comfortable luxury car.

As a result, it took a full six days to reach Osaka Bay in the Seto Inland Sea. The water distance along the way was less than 2,000 miles, and we did not dare to go too fast for inshore navigation.

There is still more than a hundred miles of land route from Osaka to Kyoto, so Lin Hai wandered around on the bullock cart for three more days. At this time, there were no horse-drawn carriages in Japan. The main reason was that horses were scarce and short in stature, so it was more difficult to pull a cart.

However, this gave Lin Hai enough time to appreciate the customs and customs of Osaka and Kyoto. These were the second of the so-called three capitals in the Edo period, and they were still worth a visit.

In this era, Osaka had a population of approximately 17, while Kyoto had a population of over . Looking at the world at the beginning of the th century, there were not many cities with a population larger than this. This alone can give a glimpse of the size of the Japanese population.

If the Spanish Empire is not counted as overseas colonies, the population of Japan is probably the fourth largest in the world in this era. The Ming Dynasty and the Mughal Empire together account for half of the global population. In addition, the third-ranked Ottoman Turkey is only It's just a little bit more than Japan.

Osaka was the commercial center of Japan, and it felt to Lin Hai like a huge, chaotic market. People on the street were wearing different colors, and it looked like a mixed place. Among the rows of shops, the largest proportion sells all kinds of food. No wonder Osaka is known as the "Kitchen of the World" in Japan.

Kyoto has a different style of painting. It is a capital city designed based on Chang'an City in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It is square and square everywhere. There are many temples, shrines and palace-like buildings in the city.

There are naturally many shops in Kyoto, but almost all of them sell exquisite gadgets, such as folding fans, musical instruments, sculptures, paintings, Wu costumes, etc. This has always been the center of Japanese handicraft industry. After all, the ministers of the Japanese country now only have a strong character, and they must make full use of this only advantage.

Lin Hai followed Zhang Jingquan all the way to Jindiyuan, where Yixin Chongchuan lived. The second-generation shogun built this temple seven years ago, ostensibly to let Takashi go to Kyoto to take charge of Buddhist affairs, but in fact it was equivalent to driving him out of the center of power.

After all, the Japanese shogunate had the final say, and the shogunate was in Edo, not Kyoto. However, Yi Xin Chong Chuan, a monk who was unwilling to be lonely, used the purple robe incident to regain the favor of the Imperial Palace. Although he has not returned to Edo yet, the Zen temple where he is is already bustling with people. The Zhike monks at Jindiyuan were very respectful to Zhang Jingquan and obviously knew him. The monk who knew the guest told Zhang Jingquan that he was waiting for guests with his sincere worship, and then took Lin Hai and the two of them to the Zen room to rest and wait.

Here, Lin Hai saw another person waiting for Chong Chuan to receive him. This man had red hair and green eyes, but he had Tsukiyo hair. He was dressed in a samurai uniform, with a sword and ribs stuck at his waist.

Lin Hai recognized that this was the second-generation Miura Anzume he had seen in Nagasaki. He remembered his British name was Joseph, so he stepped forward and said hello in Japanese: "Long time no see, Miura-kun."

"Lin Sang, it's been a long time no see. Why are you here?" Joseph also recognized Lin Hai at a glance. After all, the exhibition at Nagasaki Gozen Temple two years ago was so impressive.

He quickly stepped forward and bowed to Lin Hai, and then saluted and said hello to Zhang Jingquan. Zhang Jingquan, who was dressed in black clothes, returned the greeting with a smile.

"Do you speak English? Joseph." Lin Hai remembered the rumors he heard from Su Minggang about the EIC's plot to plot Batavia, so he changed to English to talk to the British warrior.

"Mr. Lin, you actually speak English?" Joseph was shocked. Since the British Hirado Business Store closed down, he has rarely had the opportunity to talk to people in English, except for his unmarried sister.

Lin Hai's Japanese is only enough to say hello, and his English level is quite good. Moreover, the English of this era is not much different from that of four hundred years later, and he can communicate normally. He smiled and said to Joseph: "How is it? Do you feel very friendly?"

"Yes." Joseph laughed when he heard this, "Excluding my sister who keeps chattering all day long, I haven't heard any English in more than a year."

Lin Hai was moved when he heard this: "So, you had dealings with people from EIC last year?"

"Yes, I went to Surat last year..." Joseph suddenly changed his words mid-sentence, "Sorry, Mr. Lin, I made a slip of the tongue. I meant I met an old acquaintance of EIC overseas last year."

"Oh, that's it." Lin Hai knew that what Joseph said before was the truth. Surat is the current Asian headquarters of EIC, far away in the territory of the Mughal Empire on the west coast of India.

The EIC only has an undefended commercial building in Surat, and the British have not built any forts in Asia. Joseph was obviously still doing business with the EIC, but there were only a few trading countries allowed by the Zhu Seal Ship System. He must have gone to Surat in secret, so he changed his story in a hurry after letting the news slip.

"So, why did you come to Jindiyuan?" Lin Hai then asked.

"The main reason is to get the Zhu Seal Certificate next year. I want to see if my father's old friend Elder Chong Chuan can help me." Joseph's eyes were a little sad, "I failed to get the Zhu Seal Certificate this year, mainly because of the time I stayed overseas last year. A little too long.”

Lin Haixin said, can you go to Surat for a short time? This guy must have got his seal stamped at the trading place written on the seal, and then went to Surat. After returning home, he lied about encountering a storm at sea and delayed his return. This would definitely arouse the suspicion of Nagasaki, so he suspended the payment. He issued Zhuyin certificates.

Ou Zuoji also had this problem this year. In the past two years, he had received the Zhusin certificate to go to Guangnan Kingdom, but it was Araki Sotaro who actually took it to stamp it for him, but he himself went to the Oriental Route.

This year, Ou Zuoji spent a long time in the Matalan Sultanate. When he returned, Araki Sotaro had already returned to his country, and on the way, he lost Ou Zuoji's seal certificate in Keelung.

After Ou Zuoji returned to China with the red seal certificate, he was also questioned by Nagasaki. How could it take so long to come back from Guangnan? Fortunately, he had the great master Zhang Jingquan behind him, and after some communication, the matter was settled. Nagasaki followed Mizuno Morinobu's verbal promise to still issue the red seal certificate to Ou Zuoji next year.

Lin Hai had already heard about this from Ou Zuoji when he was in Nagasaki. It seems that this Joseph is having a rough time in Japan. His personal connections are far inferior to those of Zhang Jingquan, and even worse than those of his father, William Adams. .

"So that's it." Lin Hai said with a smile, "Joseph, after all, you are a warrior with a fiefdom. Why do you have to dig in the sea for food like us sea merchants?"

"My fiefdom only has two hundred and fifty dan, how can I cover my daily expenses?" Joseph had a wry smile on his face, "What's more, my father-in-law is still the royal businessman of the general's family. I don't want to be unable to hold my head high in front of my wife. ”

Um...well, it seems that men in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, have the same difficulties...

Lin Hai didn't know who Joseph's father-in-law was, but he knew that Joseph's territory was Shigao. He just said that on purpose.

Two hundred and fifty dan in the south of the Yangtze River is equivalent to the output of one hundred acres of paddy fields. In Jinhe country, every household has one hundred acres of paddy fields. This small fiefdom is really quite shabby, and the daily expenses of being a warrior are high. If Joseph lives his life just by guarding this small fiefdom, he will soon be reduced to a beggar with only a little dignity left.

Lin Hai had a rough idea of ​​Joseph's current situation. At this time, the guest monk came over and said to Zhang Jingquan: "Elder Chongchuan has finished meeting the guests. Please come with me, Master Kongji."

After finishing speaking, Zhike Monk bowed to Joseph again and again: "Miura-dono, I'm really sorry, but I have to ask you to wait again."

A trace of sullenness flashed in Joseph's eyes, but he still kept a smile on his face: "No, Master is so polite."

Although Lin Hai didn't speak Japanese very well, he could roughly understand it by looking at the Zhike monk's movements. He didn't know if Zhang Jingquan was allowed to jump in line because of Xin Chongchuan's intention, or if it was the Zhike monk's arrangement.

"Wait a minute, may I ask, does Elder Chongchuan know who is waiting to receive him?" Lin Hai suddenly asked.

After Zhang Jingquan translated, the monk Nazhi shook his head and replied: "The young monk is only responsible for bringing the guests to the courtyard, and then the disciples of Elder Chongchuan will go in and pass the message..."

"The young monk saw that Master Kongji is older, so I arranged for you two to go in first. I think Miura-dono won't care about it." The monk Zhike continued to explain, but it became darker and darker. It was obvious that he was also a Joseph is not as important as Zhang Jingquan in his eyes.

After listening to Zhang Jingquan's translation, Lin Hai said to him: "Master, why don't you let Mr. Miura Anzhen go in first, how about we wait a little longer?"

Zhang Jingquan instantly understood that Lin Hai wanted to show his kindness to Joseph, so he said to the guest monk: "Let's pass the message on a first-come, first-served basis. The poor monk happened to have something to say to Lin Tanyue."

Seeing that Zhang Jingquan had said this, Zhike Monk bowed to Joseph again and said: "Your Excellency Miura, please come with me."

Joseph glanced at Lin Hai gratefully, and Lin Hai said to him in English: "I wish you good luck. I hope your father's old friends can help you."

"I hope so." Joseph sighed, as if he was not very confident.

"If you are really unlucky, I might be able to help with your matter." Lin Hai then said that Zhang Jingquan was right, he really wanted to win over this Joseph.

Huiyou Company now has communication channels with Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, but it does not have communication channels with the British in the Indian Ocean. Joseph may be a good candidate.

(End of this chapter)