1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2353
Shen Xueyi listened to Wang Tom explain the cause of the Tottori sand dunes yesterday, and he was also concerned about this matter. After setting off from the mouth of the Chiyogawa River, Shen Xueyi spent more time on the deck observing the coast, wanting to see if it is true as Wang Tom said. This unique sight can only be seen in Tottori.

However, the geographical knowledge Wang Tom described has long exceeded the level of this era. In Japan’s geographical environment with abundant precipitation, it is extremely rare for large-scale sand dunes to be formed by the sea.In addition to this place in Japan, there is another Monkey Forest Sand Dune located at the northern tip of Honshu Island, which is seven or eight times larger than the Tottori Sand Dune.But that sand dune was not on the route planned by Tom Wang, so it was definitely impossible for Shen Xueyi to see such special landforms in other places during this trip.

Traveling [-] miles east from Tottori Sand Dunes, the fleet sailed into a bay called Wakasa Bay. This huge bay more than [-] miles wide contains several small bays, and many fishing villages and small towns near the sea are scattered among them.

Tom Wang's route did not directly cross the Wakasa Bay, but turned south into the bay, apparently to explore somewhere in the bay.

Of course, what attracted Wang Tom was not the fishing villages near the sea, but another scenic spot with a unique style.On the west coast of Wakasa Bay, there is Amanohashidate, which is known as Japan's three scenic spots together with Matsushima and Miyajima.Since the other two scenic spots are not on the route of this operation, since he has the opportunity to pass by here, Tom Wang certainly wants to see the unique scenery here.

In the small bay named Miyazu Bay, a narrow sandbar extending from north to south on the sea surface is shaped like a bridge extending obliquely to the sky, so it is named Amanohashidate.This sandbar is seven or eight miles long, but the widest point is only about thirty feet. There are thousands of black pines growing on the sandbar, and the scenery is very beautiful.

Amakusa Shiro had never been here before, but he had heard the myths and legends about this place, so he also told the people who disembarked and went ashore for sightseeing.It is said that this place was a pontoon bridge built by the male god Izanaki in the air. Later, the pontoon bridge collapsed and fell into the world, turning into a unique landscape of Amanohashidate.

Of course, it is good to listen to such legends. Even if Wang Tom did not explain the cause of this scene, other people can see that this place is clearly a long and thin sandy beach piled up in the sea under the influence of tides, wind and other factors. Mana shouldn't matter.

"This place...is already in the Kyoto Prefecture of Japan." Tom Wang said slowly: "150 miles to the southwest is where Kyoto is located."

"150 miles? That's very close!" Shen Xueyi couldn't help feeling a little anxious when he heard the news.

Wang Tom smiled and said: "The distance between here and Kyoto is entirely mountainous, and the straight-line distance is 150 miles. The real distance is more than doubled."

Tom Wang certainly understands Shen Xueyi's mentality of "doing things". He must think that if he can show Haihan's force in a place like Kyoto, it may have a certain impact on Japan's attitude towards Haihan in the future.But to go so far inland, Wang Tom didn't intend to take such a risk.Moreover, Japan has now entered the period of shogunate rule, and the center of power has also moved from Kyoto to Edo, so it does not have much practical significance for Kyoto.

After spending half a day admiring the natural scenery of Amanohashidate, the fleet continued eastward.Starting from Wakasa Bay, the coast of Honshu Island turns north and extends toward high latitudes.

After going north for two hundred miles, we arrived at the Noto Peninsula, which is the largest peninsula on the Sea of ​​Japan side of Honshu Island. The products here are most famous for pearls, lacquerware and sea cucumbers.But for Wang Tom, these things are far less attractive than the beautiful natural scenery, and there is no need to delay the trip for this.

The fleet bypassed the Noto Peninsula and headed northeast to Niigata.Niigata also has things that Wang Tom is interested in, so he plans to spend a little time here for a while.

What Tom Wang is interested in is not local products in Niigata, not even on Honshu Island, but on Sado Island, more than 60 miles away from the coast of Niigata.

Sado Island is the sixth largest island in Japan, covering an area of ​​more than 800 square kilometers. The north and south sides are Dasado Mountain and Kosado Mountain. Between the two parallel mountains is the Kuninaka Plain. There are many rivers on the plain, which is very suitable for planting crops such as rice. .

The reason why Wang Tom pays attention to this place is of course not to purchase food produced on the island. The reason why he led the fleet to visit this place is because there is a special mineral on the island.

In 1601, someone discovered a gold mine on the island, and then Sado Island was designated by the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu as the territory of the shogunate, and gold mines on the island began to be mined.According to the information obtained by Wang Tom, during the peak mining period in the seventeenth century, the output of Sado Gold Mine was probably the largest in the world at that time.The gold mines on the island have been mined for nearly 400 years before they finally stopped due to the exhaustion of the veins.Moreover, this place is full of gold and silver. According to the data, more than 70 tons of gold and more than 2000 tons of silver have been mined from this place. It is not an exaggeration to call it Treasure Island.

What a huge fortune this is, of course, Wang Tom can't turn a blind eye to it. place of wealth.

There are Ryotsu Bay and Mano Bay on the northeast and southwest sides of Sado Island respectively. Ships to and from Sado Island are moored in these two bays.But Wang Tom didn't intend to break into Sado Island too ostentatiously, so he commanded the fleet to sail to a coast somewhere north of Mano Bay.

Of course, there is another reason why he chose this destination. This coast is only a few miles away from the Sado gold mine marked on the map. Wang Tom thought that he might be able to go up close and observe the current mining status to evaluate Haihan. Possibilities to act here.

Geographically speaking, it is indeed too far away from the area controlled by Haihan, and it is more than 2000 miles away from Jeju Island at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.It is actually very difficult for Haihan to control this place, so Tom Wang did not have the intention of winning when he visited Sado Island, but just wanted to see the actual situation here.

If the Tokugawa shogunate is not good at governing here and neglects to take precautions, Wang Tom feels that there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, then he doesn't mind taking some actions to fight for Haihan's interests.

But the shogunate's development here far exceeded Wang Tom's imagination. When he was still a few miles away from the coast, Wang Tom saw through the telescope that there was a pier built there, and several sailboats were docked on the shore. .It is obviously impossible to go ashore from there without alarming anyone.

"General, although there is a pier there, it seems that there is no decent fortification on the shore. We just go to the shore. If someone tries to block it, we will bombard it and land forcibly. Even the defenders on this island can't beat us. "

When Wang Tom was hesitating, Shen Xueyi had already made a suggestion beside him.Tom Wang smiled, and said to himself that this guy is really belligerent, and he planned to use force even though he didn't know the real purpose of coming here.

"Do you know what we are looking for here?" Tom Wang asked deliberately.

Shen Xueyi speculated: "Could it be that the Tagawa family of the Hirado clan escaped here and hid?"

Tom Wang shook his head and said, "It's almost two thousand miles away from Hirado Clan. Even if Tagawasuke wanted to hide, he wouldn't hide so far away."

Shen Xueyi thought for a while before saying: "Then I understand, there must be a very valuable treasure on the island, and the general wants to send troops to take it away."

Tom Wang nodded first, then shook his head and said, "It's true that there are treasures, but I can't take them away by force."

Shen Xueyi had a puzzled look on his face, apparently he didn't understand what power was there that could stop the Haihan army's force.

"Amakusa Shiro, you come and tell him the answer." Tom Wang didn't bother to talk to him anymore, so he asked Amakusa Shiro, a Japanese officer, to answer.

Of course, Amakusa Shiro was very aware of the special features of Sado Island, so he immediately said to Shen Xueyi: "There are gold and silver deposits on this island, which is one of the most important sources of income for the shogunate. Do you understand now?"

Shen Xueyi suddenly realized that the minerals buried in the ground could not be taken away, and if they wanted to be taken away, they could only take the whole island together.But he had seen the charts before, and the island was almost half the size of Jeju Island. If the Haihan army wanted to take it down, how many immigrants and troops would it take to achieve long-term occupation?
At least the current fleet will definitely not be able to do this. Even if it can go ashore, it will at most run away after making a fortune. It is difficult to stay here for a long time.

These factors that Shen Xueyi could think of, of course Tom Wang had already considered them.It won't be a big problem to carry out an armed landing here. You can even follow the sign on the map and follow the ravine on the coast all the way to the mine that is being mined in the mountain. You should be able to grab some from the mine. gold and silver.But the benefits of doing so are limited, but it will completely offend the Tokugawa shogunate, which may not be in Haihan's long-term interests.

In Haihan's plan for Northeast Asia, the Manchu Qing Dynasty is the primary target, and Japan is currently not on the list of targets to be attacked by force.Haihan did not intend to escalate the military operations against the Hirado clan before, but carefully controlled the attack range within the Hirado clan.

The reason why such measures are taken is that, on the one hand, the Haihan Army has limited deployment of troops in Northeast Asia, and there is no way to open up multiple battlefields at the same time; on the other hand, there is no fundamental conflict of interest between Haihan and the Japanese shogunate. To seize Japan's wealth through costly wars, it is better to gradually incorporate it into the system constructed by Haihan through trade means, and use the trade scissors difference between industrial countries and agricultural countries to harvest Japan's wealth.

If Japan can also be cultivated as one of the sales markets for Haihan's industrial products, the benefits it will bring to Haihan in the long run will be incomparable to waging war. This has already been achieved in Daming, Annan and other countries. verify.

The Japanese archipelago has many mountains and few lands, and there are not many valuable products, but there is no shortage of gold and silver. As a trading partner, there is no need to worry that the shogunate will need to provide credit or even borrow money to complete the transaction like North Korea.

Moreover, in the Edo period, Japan was governed by the shogunate vassal system, and the daimyos who ruled the local vassal states were all semi-independent, and it was very easy to form an atmosphere of arms race. At that time, the arms produced by Haihan were very likely to become best-selling commodities in Japan. The market potential cannot be ignored.

In view of such considerations, it is inconvenient for Wang Tom to use force in this operation.The final solution is to put down the boat and send Amakusa Shiro ashore to see if he can get some news from the local area by virtue of his Japanese identity.

Of course, this kind of mission also has certain risks. The Haihan Fleet has already shown its figure at sea. If the people on the island think that Amakusa Shiro is a spy for spying on the military situation, then he may never return.

However, Amakusa Shiro took the task very calmly and took a small boat to the island.After he arrived on the island, he didn't stay too long. After about an hour, he returned to the ship in a small boat.

"People here are very cautious. Ships that can dock on Sado Island must have a special order from the shogunate. The island will not allow our ships to dock, nor will they provide us with any supplies. If we don't want to If you are regarded as an intruder, you can only leave here."

After Amakusa Shiro returned to the ship, he reported the information he had learned after going ashore to Wang Tom.

Such a situation is actually reasonable. Since this place is one of the main sources of income for the shogunate, it is also reasonable to implement strict control measures here.If any ship could dock at Sado Island, and anyone could enter and leave the island freely, then the gold and silver mined on the island would probably be lost in various weird ways.

Haihan’s Jinguashi gold mine, which is being mined near Jilong Port in Taipei, is actually managed in the same way as Sado Island, and even stricter in some aspects, so Wang Tom can understand the approach here.

Seeing that he had already arrived at the place, but he couldn't get in, Tom Wang was a little disappointed.It's just that he won't show such emotions on his face in front of his subordinates.

"Let's find an opportunity to visit this place in the future." Wang Tom finally decided to treat the matter with a peaceful attitude, and seized the time to continue on the road.Although it is a pity that he failed to find out the mining situation of the gold mine on the island, this was only one of the places he visited by the way during the voyage, and it was not considered the mission content of this operation, so he did not have much obsession with it. , If you can’t go, you will give up decisively.

The fleet continued to sail northward from Niigata for three days, passed through Yamagata, Akita, and Aomori, and finally arrived at the Tsugaru Strait at the northern end of Honshu Island.Crossing the strait tens of miles wide and continuing northward, Hokkaido is now covered with snow.And if you sail eastward through the Tsugaru Strait, you will enter the Pacific Ocean from the Sea of ​​Japan.

(End of this chapter)