1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2107
Very few people can resist the temptation of power, let alone the power that is at their fingertips, and Tagawasuke is no exception.He is very clear that the armed force he currently possesses has far surpassed that of his superior, the Matsuura clan, and he has enough strength to replace him. The reason why he has been standing still is mainly because he is worried that the Hizen Kingdom and the shogunate will take the opportunity to intervene when there is chaos in Hirado. , Let these external forces reap the benefits of the fisherman.

If it wasn't for the former feudal lord Matsuura Shinnobu who destroyed Hirado Castle to dispel Tokugawa Ieyasu's suspicion, it is estimated that the Matsuura clan's territory would have been taken by the shogunate long ago.However, the shogunate has never given up on the idea of ​​bringing Hirado into the area directly under it. In recent years, it has been weakening Hirado's trade status through methods such as the lock-up order, forcing foreign businessmen to transfer their trading locations to Nagasaki Port under the control of the shogunate.Even if the shogunate does not take direct action against the Hirado clan, the main source of income for the Hirado clan will eventually be cut off by the shogunate in a few more years.

The Matsuura family did not have the confidence to resist the shogunate’s deliberate suppression, but Tagawasuke did not want to sit still. Once Hirado lost its trading privileges, it would soon become a rural place with only agriculture and fisheries left. It is difficult to rely on these industries for a long time Maintain a strong armed forces, without the armed forces, what else can Hirado use to bargain with the shogunate?
Therefore, in order to end this vicious circle, Tagawasuke must first let the shogunate understand that Hirado is no longer a soft persimmon to be manipulated by others, but a local tycoon who is qualified to sit down with the shogunate to negotiate terms.

To achieve such an effect, the first step is to replace the Matsuura clan's rule over the Hirado clan.Since this process obviously cannot be completed through negotiation, Tagawasuke can only use his armed forces.

Of course, it is necessary to find a high-sounding excuse for this kind of behavior of restraint, and pleading for the people is undoubtedly an excellent starting point.The Tagawa clan originally had relatively strong influence in Hirado, coupled with the intentional management under the advice of the Han staff in recent years, it should be relatively easy to obtain support from the people after the incident.

The Han bosses under Tagawasuke were basically born in Shibazhi, they were ruthless and decisive, and they had already been preparing for this day. Therefore, after receiving Tianchuansuke's statement, they immediately began to split up and act.

After the subordinates left with their missions, Tagawasuke took a look at Tagawa Nanachiemon who was still sitting beside him, and was quite satisfied with his calm performance.Although he is not a biological heir, Tagawa Nanazawaemon is indeed of the Aritagawa clan's blood, and he is a young man with a composure that does not match his age. This also makes Tagawasuke quite optimistic about his future growth. .

"Shichizaemon, do you know what's going to happen next?" Tagawasuke decided to take another test of his godson to see if he was sitting here listening to the meeting just now, whether he was out of his mind, or listening carefully to all parties. Express opinions in discussions.

Tagawa Nanazawaemon lowered his body and responded, "If the child understands correctly, then Father will become the Lord of the Hirado Domain!"

Tagawasuke showed a gratified expression on his face, nodded and said: "Your understanding is correct, times have changed, it's time for our Tagawa clan to rule the Hirado clan!"

Although the Hirado Clan is already in a situation where the master is weak and the servant is strong, for the sake of safety, Tagawasuke ordered the assembly of manpower before the action, and cut off the channel for the Matsuura family to flee and seek help first, so as to avoid complications.

Although Tagawasuke is only a retainer of the Matsuura family and a vassal of the Hirado clan, the number of armed men he actually controls has already surpassed that of the Lord.Some of these quasi-soldiers live in Hirado Port with various disguised identities, sailors, farmers, shop assistants, coachmen... These people are almost all old members of Shibazhi, and have certain combat experience.The most important thing is that they are all willing to be loyal to Zheng Zhilong's descendants, and will do anything for revenge.Among the personnel deployed overseas by the Tagawa family, these people are basically the main force.

In addition, in the Goto Islands west of Hirado Island, there are also a large number of armed personnel who are in the training stage.The sources of these people are very mixed, not only Japanese and Han Chinese, but also fugitives from North Korea, Ryukyu and other countries, and even mercenaries from Southeast Asia and Europe.

Although the personnel composition is relatively complicated, Tian Chuansuke and his staff attach great importance to the role of this group of people. Basically, the Musketeers, Artillery and Armed Fleet under construction have to rely on this group of people.

It took Tian Chuansuke two days to gather these armed forces hidden in various places to Hirado Port, and then launched a coup d'état one evening at the end of March.At the same time, the Haihan Fleet, which was carrying out reconnaissance missions, was on the way back to investigate the situation of the Goto Islands again, but they did not know that Hirado Port had turned upside down at this time.

About [-] armed men appeared in Hirado Port at sunset, quickly implemented an organized blockade of the port area, and surrounded Matsuura's residence.There are also rumors in the port area that an assassin entered Hirado to try to assassinate the feudal lord. The purpose of blocking the port area is to facilitate the arrest of the assassin and to ensure that no one will take advantage of the fire to disrupt order at this time.

Of course, this kind of rumor was intentionally released by the Tian Chuan family. The purpose was to appease the public, so that ordinary people would not realize that this was an armed coup for the time being.The residence of the Matsuura family, which was some distance away from the city, suffered a violent attack at this time.

Although there are still a group of warriors desperately resisting, it is difficult for these warriors with steel knives to show their true strength in front of the attacking side's muskets, and they can only consume the opponent's ammunition.The armed men under the command of Tagawa only paid a small price and broke through the defense line of Matsuura's residence.

Tagawasuke did not personally direct the attack on the Matsuura family, but handed over this task to his trusted subordinate Tagawa Kojiro.This person is not a member of the Tianchuan clan, but a foreigner adopted by Tianchuanjie in his early years. Later, because of his outstanding performance, he was given a surname and included in the Tianchuan family.

This Tagawa Kojiro is also a loyal dog, as long as it is a task entrusted to him by Tagawasuke, he does not ask the reason, but only wants to complete it satisfactorily.Ta Chuansuke didn't show up, and entrusting him with this tricky task was not only a sign of full trust in him, but also a need for someone to do some dirty work on his behalf.

After directing the musketeers to bloodbath the samurai guarding the Matsuura Clan, Kojiro Tagawa did not pause, ordering that anyone who tried to escape the area be shot to death.He worried that the feudal lord Matsuura Kohei sent these samurai to die in order to delay time so that they could escape the encirclement under his command.

But it soon proved that he was actually worrying too much. Matsuura Kohei and his family were all blocked in the residence, and there was no sign of escaping at all.At this time, the troops loyal to the Matsuura clan hadn't even received a warning, and it was too late to come here for rescue.

Although Matsuura Kohei has no ability in governing, he still has the style of a feudal lord. Seeing the samurai-like Tagawa Kojiro come in, he planned to make a head start: "Bold maniac, do you know what you are doing? My retainer They will come soon and kill you all!"

Naturally, Tagawa Kojiro was unmoved, staring at Matsuura Kohei and replied coldly: "My lord, you don't need to expect any retainers to come to rescue you...I am your retainer!"

Matsuura Kohei saw that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember which retainer's entourage it was, and said angrily, "Whose subordinate are you? You are so rude, it's just hateful, go and call your master to see me!"

Kojiro Tagawa sneered, "Today, a group of assassins from other places entered Hirado and attacked the mansion of the lord of the feudal lord. The villain came to the rescue after receiving the order of Lord Tagawa."

"It's Tian Chuansuke! Why didn't he come to see me himself!" Matsuura Kohei is not an idiot either. Once he heard the other party's self-reported family name, he already guessed the whole story. Now he can only hope to confront Tian Chuansuke and convince the other party. Let go of irrational thoughts.As for the foreign assassin, this is obviously an excuse for using force fabricated by the other party.

But Tagawa Kojiro had already received Tagawasuke's instruction before that, so of course he wouldn't entangle Matsuura Kohei on this issue, so he just shook his head coldly and said: "Tagawa-sama is arresting assassins in other places, so he can't come here Meet with the feudal lord. In order to better protect the feudal lord, I suggest that you immediately hand over the Hirado clan's treasury account books, messenger amulets, and feudal lord's official seal, so that we can all avoid trouble."

Tagawa Kojiro's words have basically clarified the actual nature of the current situation. Matsuura Kohei scolded: "What a dare! Do you think that taking these things can replace me as the feudal lord of the Hirado feudal clan? Lord Tokugawa will never approve of you criminals below!"

Tagawa Kojiro responded calmly: "Whether Lord Tokugawa approves or not is our business, so you don't have to worry about it. I advise you to cooperate, so that we can end this matter decently without making too much trouble." Ugly."

"If I don't cooperate, what can you do!" Although Matsuura Kohei's voice did not decrease, he could not help but have a hint of sternness.Of course, he knew very well that the shogunate Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was thousands of miles away, could not save him at all, and even if he could, that Tokugawa general might not take action. The outbreak of civil strife in the Hirado clan might be exactly what the other side wanted. .

As for who will ultimately be in charge of the Hirado Domain, I am afraid that there is not much difference to the shogunate. After all, let alone the domain lord in this era, even the local daimyo changes frequently.It is not unusual at all to be overthrown by force during his reign, but Matsuura Kohei did not expect that such a thing would suddenly be his turn.Usually, the old man Tian Chuansuke seems to be very loyal when he kneels in front of him, who would have thought that this guy would be a bold and ambitious man!
"Since the adults are unwilling to cooperate, then I can only use violence." Tagawa Kojiro glanced expressionlessly at the shivering family members of Matsuura Kohei, and then pointed to one of them: "Drag out and chop off their heads!"

Immediately, several samurai like wolves and tigers came up and dragged out the person Tagawa Kojiro pointed out.This man was Matsuura Yongchang, the third younger brother of Matsuura Kohei. Although he was struggling hard, he was no match for several people fighting together. He was subdued in two or three strokes, and then was directly lifted out by several samurai.Although Matsuura Kohei was shocked by Tagawa Kojiro's order, he still believed that the other party would not really hurt people, so he did not let go.

However, within a short while, Matsuura Yongchang's head was presented on the tray usually used to hold teacups, his eyes were still wide open, as if he couldn't believe what happened to him until he died.

When the Matsuura family, including Matsuura Kohei, saw this head, they finally realized that the other party was not joking with them, but a murderer who would kill them, and they burst into tears.Even Matsuura Kohei lost the strength he had just now, and his face became pale.

"My lord, hand it over, don't make the scene too ugly." Tagawa Kojiro's voice sounded again: "I ask once, if you don't agree, I will kill one person. Don't worry, I will keep you until the end, let you Watching your family members being killed one by one with my own eyes!"

Matsuura Kohei was angry and scared, but he had no way to fight Tagawa Kojiro at the moment, and he didn't even have a bargaining chip to negotiate conditions.Seeing that Tagawa Kojiro's eyes had started to turn around his family again, Matsuura Kohei could only choose to compromise, but he asked Tagawa Kojiro to promise that he would save the lives of the Matsuura clan after he handed over these things.

"Of course." Tagawa Kojiro replied with certainty: "As long as I have these things, I can let you leave Hirado, and you can go wherever you want."

So Matsuura Kohei honestly explained where these important objects were hidden, and according to his instructions, Tagawa Kojiro's men quickly searched out these things.

Tagawa Kojiro didn't dare to be careless at all, he took it out and inspected it himself to confirm that these items are genuine.Otherwise, if there is something tricky about it, he will use it to ask Tian Chuansuke for credit later, and I am afraid that something big will happen.

"It's time for you to travel your promise, let us leave here!" Matsuura Kohei worried that the other party would change his mind, so he hurriedly urged him again.

Tagawa Kojiro nodded and said, "Thank you for your reminder, I will send you on your way right now."

Matsuura Kohei heard that his tone was a bit wrong, and was about to argue a few more words, but Tagawa Kojiro was already giving an order: "Kill them all, and then set fire to the house, don't leave any evidence!"

That night, a raging fire broke out in Matsuura's residence, and the flames could be seen in the dark throughout the Hirado Port area.The fire burned for a whole night before it was slowly extinguished. Rescuers arrived at the scene at dawn and began to search for victims among the ruins.Of course, all they could find was a pile of charred corpses. More than 30 members of the Matsuura family, more than 20 guards and more than a dozen servants, all died in this unknown fire.

(End of this chapter)