1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2138
Yu Chengli waited anxiously in the Portuguese shop for half a day, and when it was almost noon, Gonzalez finally came back.Seeing that he came in, Yu Chengli didn't talk nonsense, so he quickly got up and asked, "It's been hard work, but what good news do you have?"

Gonzalez's expression was a bit complicated, and he was silent for a while before responding: "Good news? The Haihan people are preparing to withdraw their troops. Is this good news?"

"Of course it's good news!" Yu Chengli replied, but seeing that Gonzalez's face showed no excitement, he quickly asked, "Could there be any more bad news?"

Gonzalez nodded and said: "There is indeed bad news. The Haihan people plan to completely destroy this place before evacuating. There may be no Hirado Port in the future."

Yu Chengli was taken aback when he heard that, and asked tremblingly, "Then we... don't we..."

"Don't worry, they are just planning to destroy Hirado Port, not kill all the people here." Gonzalez comforted: "Besides, we are not Japanese, and the opponents of Haihan people are not us, and they have not made things difficult for us." Necessary, but the money bag may be damaged."

Only then did Yu Chengli regain his composure, and quickly asked Gonzales to explain the ins and outs of this in detail.

Gonzalez went to see Simao, the Portuguese military attache in the Haihan army, early this morning, but the restricted area of ​​the barracks was not so easy to enter, and it took him a lot of effort to be brought in by Simao's men.

The friendship between the compatriots and the generous gift offered by Gonzales made Simao patiently explain to Gonzales the current general situation and the next arrangement of the Haihan Army for Hirado Port.

According to Simao, all businessmen, sailors, and other practitioners from foreign countries will be allowed to leave Hirado after their identities are verified.Foreigners can choose to return to their home country or go to other areas in Japan, and their personal property can also be taken away.However, the Haihan Army will not leave too much time for foreigners to evacuate. They must leave Hirado before the set evacuation deadline. Those who violate the deadline may be fined by the Haihan Army and their property will be confiscated, and they will even be regarded as hostile acts. was arrested.

This arrangement seems humane, but it is not easy for businessmen like them.First of all, the industry they operated in Hirado will end, and it is impossible for them to take away real estate such as real estate and land, and the value of this part of the property will most likely be directly cleared.

Secondly, the Hirado clan officials requisitioned all local civilian ships before the war, even if they were well-connected big businessmen, so as long as the cargo ships under their names were moored in Hirado Port at that time, they were not spared.Even if you want to leave now, you may not be able to find a boat, let alone transport all your property out.And these related transportation costs, I am afraid all have to be borne by themselves.

Such forced evictions will not only cause them huge economic losses, but also bring the trade channels they have worked so hard to achieve to the verge of collapse.Although Haihan also left them an option to go to other places in Japan on their own, even if they went to an emerging trading port like Nagasaki, it would be very difficult to start all over again.

Yu Chengli thought about this event, and of course he understood why Gonzales felt that the Haihan Army's imminent withdrawal was not good news.For businessmen like them, the real economic damage may not start to be calculated until now.

"The Haihan people are planning to drive away us foreigners?" Yu Chengli still had a little luck, thinking that he would leave Hirado for a while, hand over the property to reliable locals, and come back to continue the business when the weather calms down .

Gonzalez smiled wryly, "Do you think Haihan people are so careless?"

Yu Chengli was stunned and said, "Could it be that they want to expel all the locals?"

"It's not just deportation!" Gonzalez sighed, "You know that the Haihan people started to ship the prisoners of war away yesterday, right? They're not just the prisoners, but everyone here!"

"Everyone..." Yu Chengli was really frightened now.He has been operating in Hirado Port for many years, so he naturally knows the approximate population size of the place, but the Haihan people actually want to move all the thousands of people here, which is really an unheard of big move!

Although Yu Chengli didn't know the real reason why Haihan attacked the Hirado clan, it was obvious that he planned to use a trick against the Hirado clan.Just imagine that all these thousands of people have moved away. Even if the ruler of the Hirado clan came back after Haihan retreated, it would probably be difficult to make this place work again in a short time.

And business waits for no one. If Hirado loses its ability to trade, then Japan's foreign trade port will soon be transferred from Hirado to the alternative Nagasaki.Merchants must put their interests first, and no one will stay to help the Hirado Domain rebuild this trading port, and everyone will definitely weigh it before returning to Hirado, whether they can withstand the Haihan Army's attack again. caused losses.

Hirado is over.Yu Chengli secretly sentenced this place to death in his heart.Although these news are just hearsay from Gonzalez, Yu Chengli has no doubt that the Haihan people can really do this kind of incredible thing.

He had heard before that Haihan received tens of thousands of refugees from the Denglai Rebellion from the Shandong Peninsula and the coastal areas of Jiangsu. At that time, the refugees were sent to the south by sea for resettlement.Since Haihan had the ability to organize long-distance migration of a large number of people a few years ago, it seems that it is not an impossible task to remove all the people on Hirado Island today.

Yu Chengli originally thought about how to operate so that Haihan would let him go and keep these local family properties, but after hearing the news from Gonzalez, he knew that his plan was unlikely to be realized.Haihan has already arranged to have a big fight with Hirado Island, so how can individual businessmen be allowed to stay here? If they want to stay on the island by force, let alone protect their family property, they may not even be able to save their lives.

But it is impossible to say that it is not painful to lose such a large amount of money for nothing. Yu Chengli bought land in the urban area to build this store, and he also spent two or three thousand taels of silver to enter it.If it hadn't been for this war, his storehouse could have been resold for at least 3000 taels now, but now the investment is gone, and if he wants to move to another trading port, then Wouldn't it be necessary to spend additional money to buy property and build a house? This is not a small sum when calculated here and there.

Yu Chengli let out a long sigh and said, "Since the general situation is the way it is, it's hard for us to act like a cart, so we can only obey the arrangements of the Haihan people. It's just that we need to think carefully about how to minimize the loss."

Gonzalez said: "The news I heard is that the Haihan people will announce a compensation plan for foreign businessmen, but I don't know the specific content. Maybe we will have a third plan besides returning to China and going to Nagasaki. choose."

Yu Chengli said disapprovingly: "The people of Haihan are known for their shrewdness. The compensation they give may not be so easy to get. Maybe they are extorting in the name of compensation, and they will cut us off!"

Gonzalez felt a little guilty when he heard the words. Although Simao promised to take care of him as much as possible, he did not guarantee that he would not suffer further economic losses. What's more, even if Simao was willing to take care of him, he might not be able to persuade the Haihan people to give him special treatment.

The two waited until the afternoon in this uneasy atmosphere, and the situation took on a new trend.A Haihan officer came to Gonzalez's shop and announced to him the latest decision of the headquarters.

Foreign businessmen have the freedom to choose where to go, and can take away all property under their names within a limited period of time, but all expenses during the period are borne by themselves.Another compensation plan mentioned by Gonzalez is that Haihan will provide transportation capacity to send the merchants to Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, and the transportation service here will be provided by Haihan officials free of charge.If businessmen are willing to settle in Dinghai Port, they can also get substantial discounts in terms of land purchase, property purchase and taxation.

Both Yu Chengli and Gonzalez are businessmen, so they naturally figured out the meaning when they heard it.The Haihan people are pushing out with one hand and pulling back with the other. On the one hand, they want to expel foreign businessmen from Hirado, causing them to suffer economic losses. Part of the loss can be effectively recovered, and there is no need to worry about safety issues in the process of evacuating the flat household.

If under such conditions, he is still unwilling to cooperate with Haihan and insists on doing things on his own, then Haihan will naturally not care how much these businessmen have suffered.

"Master Jun, what do you mean, if you are willing to go to Zhoushan, you can also transport your belongings there for free?" Yu Chengli asked cautiously to confirm whether his understanding was wrong.

The officer nodded and said: "That's right, not only is it free, but it's also transported by warships, so you can rest assured about safety. However, the space on warships is limited, first come, first served, and it depends on who signs up first. It's too late , then you may have to find a way to find a boat yourself. Make a decision quickly so that I can go back and return to my life."

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Jun." Yu Chengli flipped his hand, and handed out a piece of silver.

The officer took it calmly, weighed it, and said to them, "Don't delay!"

Yu Chengli followed Gonzalez to another room, and after closing the door, Yu Chengli asked, "What does Boss Gang think of the conditions of the Haihan people? Should we agree to them?"

Gonzalez said: "The big man I met in the morning gave me advice not to choose the single-plank bridge. I think he may be right, we should choose the road that is most beneficial to us."

Which road is Yangguan Avenue and which road is the single-plank bridge seems to be self-evident under the current situation.They are all shrewd businessmen, so they naturally know which option is most beneficial to them under the current situation.

The decision was made quickly, and the two returned to the hall to give an answer to Officer Haihan.After the officer was sent away, the two remained silent for a long time. With their knowledge, they could no longer predict the future direction of the situation, so they could only take one step at a time.The only good thing is that at least the Haihan people have always had a good business reputation, and the treatment they promised seems to be quite trustworthy.

There are actually not many foreign businessmen like them who have a certain amount of real estate in Hirado, but in the face of the conditions offered by Haihan, almost no one chooses to leave on their own or go to Nagasaki.The reason is very simple, refusing to cooperate means refusing the protection provided by Haihan. If even this kind of protection is refused, it is not surprising that any accidents occurred.

The merchants could bear the financial loss, but they didn't dare to gamble with their wealth and lives on whether Haihan would arrange to kill him later.In this period of chaos, surviving first is more important than anything else, not to mention cooperating with Haihan and having a chance to keep most of the property.As for how to manage after going to Zhoushan, no one is in the mood to think about things that far away.

Money is easy to do things. This principle is applicable in any era, even in Hirado during the war.The group of foreign businessmen who are the richest in Hirado were almost immediately notified by the Haihan Army. Soon after, military officers brought temporary recruits to the door to help these businessmen sort out their supplies, pack them and ship them to the port for loading. Boat.

"Shi Diwen, your move is really ruthless! Not only do you want to drive people away, but you also bring them all back to Zhoushan! Tsk tsk...it's really high!" After listening to the latest progress report, Qian Tiandun couldn't help but I admire Shi Diwen's plan.

Shi Diwen waved his hand and said, "It's not a big deal, it's just basic operations! And these foreign businessmen may not really settle down in Zhoushan after they arrive in Zhoushan. I estimate that it would be good if one-third to half of them can stay. The key is to use this method to achieve a concept that if you don’t want to offend Haihan, you can’t do business with Hirado.”

"In this way, even if Tagawasuke wants to rebuild Hirado in the future, it will be difficult to have the same trading status." Qian Tiandun added understandingly.

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "That's right, we just want to let businessmen from all over the world know this rule! After cutting off the main source of income of the Hirado Domain, I don't believe that they can still rely on the income from farming and fishing to support the armed fleet!"

Shi Diwen has already made clear arrangements for how to evacuate Hirado. First, remove the captives. Without this special group with the strongest combat effectiveness, no matter how much trouble the locals make in the subsequent forced relocation, it is difficult to cause major disturbances. up.The next step is to move the richest and most powerful foreign businessmen out of Hirado. Although the remaining people are large in number, they are seriously lacking in organization and ability to judge the situation, and the operation will be relatively easier.

In the process, it is Shi Diwen's little selfishness to bring businessmen from various countries to Zhoushan.However, no one here competed with him for this kind of resources. Among the generals, he was the only one who managed a colonial area under his name, and they all turned a blind eye to him as a favor to him.

(End of this chapter)