Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 336 The Great Voyage ([-])

Li Yi's words are definitely not aimless. In fact, he already has a comprehensive plan in mind.The "Shandan trade" that has lasted for many years in the south and north of Sakhalin Island in history is very famous. The so-called Shandan trade originally mainly refers to the ethnic minorities living in the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang—that is, the Shandan trade. The Dan people, the Ainu people who came to Sakhalin Island across the sea, and the barter transactions between the northern aborigines of the island such as the Oroqen people and the Feiyaka people, etc. Later, this trade was added to the Matsumae Fan's Japanese.

Although the scale of this trade was not very large at this time, it was extremely important and had a great influence in this region (the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, Sakhalin Island, the surrounding area of ​​the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, Ezo, and the Matsumae Domain of Japan).The Shandan people who came from the mainland brought clothes and other consumer goods, the Ainu people brought dried fish and other commodities, the Japanese brought silk and other commodities, and the local aborigines provided a large number of valuable furs and feathers. and other scarce commodities, the two parties jointly carried out barter trade on Sakhalin Island.

"Why do you call those Manchurians on the mainland who came to trade as Shandan people?" Standing on the front deck of the expedition ship "Breaking Waves" that set off for Dabo Port, Second Lieutenant An Chu asked Li Yi with some doubts.

"This is what the Japanese call it." Li Yi said bluntly, "The Japanese first knew the name of the Shandan people from the rumors of the Ainu people. The so-called Shandan is actually Shandan. Transliteration. Because at that time, the nearby residents called the people of all ethnic groups in the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang as Tatars, and Shantar actually means the Tatars living in the mountains. Over time, it was misrepresented as Shandan people. Anyway, you know The meaning is enough. In my opinion, these Shandan people are actually the raw Jurchen that Jianzhou Jurchen has been catching. These people live in a bitter cold place all year round, make a living by fishing and hunting, and are still at the level of primitive society, but they are indeed It is also a very qualified cannon fodder force. If there is a chance, we'd better recruit and win over some, which will also weaken the stamina of the Qing Dynasty in disguise."

"I don't know if we will meet the Japanese from the Matsumae clan this time. If there is a chance, we can also exchange some of the Ainu slaves they have with them. They are fighting with the Ainu in Ezo It has been a long war, and they have gained a certain upper hand. I think we can buy some slaves from them, which should be very cheap. And the coal mines we are looking for will definitely require a lot of manpower once they are developed in the future." An Chu's right hand Rubbing his chin, he said thoughtfully.

"You still want to spend money to buy slaves? Are you out of your mind?" Li Yi patted the back of An Chu's head dissatisfied, and said: "It's enough to go ashore to rob the North Koreans if there is a lack of slaves, why spend money to buy them? Forget it , I won’t talk about this with you, Dabo port is coming soon, pay attention to maneuvering the boat, the water depth of this port is very average, try to stay in the center of the channel.”

Dabo Port was one of the largest ports in the South Sakhalin Island area at this time, and a large part of the Shandan trade was carried out here.The name Dabo Port is also the name of the later Japanese when they occupied Sakhalin Island, and Li Yi took it directly and used it.As for the name of this place at this time, it is probably called Mother and Son Po, which means that there are two anchorages here, one large and one small, one inside and one outside.This port was a Russian naval base in later generations, and its name was Korsakov. It is also a well-known port in Sakhalin Island.

Today is already June 6th. According to the plan, Li Yi and others will not stay here for too long, so he is eager to get on line with the aborigines here and even the Japanese across the strait before leaving, so as to Open up the situation here.There are several large and small ships moored in Dabo Port, including simple canoes and large ships with tall ship buildings.The civilization level of all the ethnic groups in the Heilongjiang River Basin is very low, let alone shipbuilding technology. Perhaps building a canoe is considered high technology for them, so this large sailboat moored among many canoes seems to be It's a bit dazzling.

The "Broken Wave" puffed out white smoke, and parked carefully in the deep-water channel of the outer port of Dabo Port.With the bosun's yell, a large number of small boats were lowered on both sides of the ship almost at the same time, and Sergeant Johnson was escorted by a group of east coast sailors in a small boat and rowed towards the shore.

There are dozens of simple wooden houses on the shore, and a large flat grassland.On the grass, aborigines wearing various costumes and speaking various accents are conducting trade, but the movement of the "Breaking Wave" entering the port is too great. At this moment, both buyers and sellers invariably stopped communicating with each other deal, looking up the port.In their view, the slowly stopping ship on the pier was much taller and more beautiful than the Japanese high-rise ships.It's just that the chimney that keeps puffing out smoke makes people feel a little strange and frightening, especially the huge figure of the paddle paddle paddle after the boat approaches, which deeply shocked the bunch of country bumpkins in front of them. The Oroqen man, who didn't know why, even lost his legs and fell to his knees on the grass.

This must be the masterpiece of the gods!More aborigines such as Fayaka, Ulchi, and Ainu also knelt down. They bowed devoutly in the direction of the ship, and they were still muttering, as if they were praying for something.Only some of the Shantars who had seen the world, the Japanese of the Matsumae Domain, and a few Ainu people from Ezo who came across the sea still stood there, looking at the mighty big ship on the pier with complicated expressions.

Staff Sergeant Johnson stood cautiously on the beach of Dadomari Port, surrounded by dozens of sailors armed with guns with high-quality ammunition, and beside him was Inspector Xu Xiaojiro from the National Intelligence Agency.Kojiro was originally a descendant of the first batch of dilapidated Japanese samurai who immigrated to the east coast. He had served in the Bordeaux intelligence station on the east coast for a long time. Later, his superior Xu Xin thought that it would be shameful for him not to have a surname, so he suggested that he change his surname to Xu.I thought that he might be reluctant, but I didn't expect Kojiro to be ecstatic after hearing this, and agreed to change his surname to Xu on the spot, and pretended to be Xu Xin's retainer.

This time, Kojiro set out to the Far East with the expedition fleet, and it was originally planned that he could conveniently negotiate with the Japanese in case he encountered the Japanese.At this moment, he nodded to Sergeant Johnson, and then leaned on his saber and strode forward.He was wearing a black woolen coat issued by the State Intelligence Agency, shiny cooked cowhide military boots on his feet, and a winter fur hat on his head; The 32-year machine-made non-commissioned officer's knife of the East Coast standard; on the right is a cowhide holster, and a 1633 flintlock pistol is inserted in the holster.

In the eyes of the group of beggar-like aborigines in the market in front of them, such simple and smooth attire has an extraordinary visual impact.Although these costumes do not necessarily conform to their aesthetics, they make the person who wears them look spiritual anyway.

"I am Yoshinosuke Imamura of the Matsumae Clan in Japan. Excuse me, is your Excellency..." Before Kojiro could speak, a few Japanese standing aside spoke first.Most of them were dressed as businessmen, especially the leader. He didn't even have a weapon on him, but he was followed by four or five samurai with swords on their waists, which seemed to be his guards.

"I am Xu Xiaojiro, from the Republic of East China, and I am here to make a deal with you." Kojiro said calmly, and several tall Polish sailors stood behind him holding rifles. Staring covetously at the small Japanese warriors in front of him.And those Japanese samurai from the Matsumae domain also stared back at them without showing any weakness. These samurai fought against the Ainu people in Ezo all the year round, and lived a life of licking blood with knives. Naturally, they would not show timidity on this occasion .

"Trading? What are you here to trade? Where is the East China Republic? You are not from Shandan, so where are you from?" Imamura Yoshinosuke didn't seem to see that the samurai behind him were exchanging luck with the red-haired barbarians on the other side, but asked suspiciously.He is not an uninformed person. When he was young, he had also been to those prosperous commercial ports in the south. He had seen the Portuguese and the Dutch who came to Nagasaki for trade, so he doubted that these people standing in front of him were also from Tessie.It's just that the guy talking to him in front of him is an authentic Japanese. He is very sure of this, but he doesn't know why he became the leader of these red-haired barbarians. Let's observe their words and deeds first.

"Our products are very rich. Sharp samurai swords, sturdy armor, high-quality cloth, fine leather goods, durable iron products, spicy spirits and even... excellent iron cannons." Having said that, Kojiro lowered his voice , pretending to be mysterious and said: "Your clan had conflicts with the Ainu people in Ezo, and they fought endlessly. You must be quite eager for sophisticated weapons, right?"

"You also provide this kind of iron cannon in your hand?" Yoshinosuke Imamura was a little tempted. He had seen the Dutch demonstrate those iron cannons from Taixi, which were much better than those made in the country.If these people can sell them this kind of iron cannon that looks quite good, it will be of great benefit to the great cause of the Matsumae domain to conquer the Ezo land.In the face of these practical benefits, their demands for some commercial benefits are insignificant.

In fact, Yoshinosuke Imamura was quite wary of these outsiders before.Although the Matsumae domain currently only occupies part of the Ezo land, it is still far from the Ainu people on the island.However, adhering to the greedy character tradition of the Japanese, the Matsumae Domain has always been eyeing the Dabo area far north of Ezo.

(End of this chapter)