1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 904 Visiting the North ([-])

The location of Tsushima Island is exactly in the middle of the Korean Strait, and it can be used as a base to block the channel of the Strait during wartime.However, for Haihan, the first candidate for the location of the naval base in this area is still Sasebo Bay. The environment of Tsushima Island can only be stationed temporarily, but it is difficult to maintain the daily operation of a Haihan fleet for a long time.Moreover, with the strength of the Haihan Fleet, it is almost impossible to meet an opponent that can match it in the Northeast Asian waters. For the time being, there is no need to expand the already very large advantage by occupying Tsushima Island.Even if the military wanted to do this, the executive committee would probably not approve such a plan that was not proportional to the investment and the results. Unless there was a real need to block the Korean Strait in the future, otherwise occupying this place would be a waste of military expenditure.

After the fleet passed the northern tip of Tsushima Island, across the sea is the Port of Busan, one of the main ports on the Korean Peninsula.Busan means "pot-shaped mountain". As early as the early 15th century, Busan was designated as a foreign trade port by the Lee Dynasty of North Korea.However, in terms of operating scale, Busan Port still has a gap compared with Nagasaki Port in the south.Most Western merchants used Nagasaki Port or Hirado Port as the last stop in the Far East, and very few would sail further north to Pusan.

However, the purpose of the Haihan fleet's trip is to investigate the actual situation in Northeast Asia, and naturally they will not miss the important point of the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.In order to be able to enter the Port of Busan smoothly, the fleet also stopped at Tsushima Island for a day, in order to hire North Koreans from the local business houses as guides.

To Chen Yixin's relief, North Koreans are not ignorant of "Hai Han". As early as two or three years ago, Hai Han products had flowed into the Korean peninsula through trade channels, and it was even said that some of them were offered as tributes. in the palace.However, because these commodities are shipped across the sea and the quantity is extremely scarce, their prices have remained high.According to Kim Nam-ui, a North Korean guide, almost all of the limited Haihan products in the North Korean market were bought up by relatives of the emperor, and no matter how high the price was, they would not worry about selling.

A few nautical miles away from Busan Port, Chen Yixin was able to see Taejongdae at the southern end of Jueyeong Island in Busan Harbor through the binoculars.It is said that this place got its name from King Taejong of Silla who visited here after unifying the Korean peninsula, hence the name Taejongdae.

Although Busan Port is one of the most comprehensive large-scale trading ports in the world in later generations, the construction level in this era is very shabby. There are only a few wooden trestles extending into the sea on the wharf, and there are obvious differences in specifications and old and new levels. , obviously not a product of unified planning.From the perspective of the size and facilities of the port, there is still a significant gap compared with the two ports of Hirado and Nagasaki operated by the Japanese, let alone the port operated by Haihan himself.

Not long after the fleet docked at the pier, North Korean officials came to collect fees for docking at the port.To Chen Yixin's surprise, North Korean officials still insisted on charging 30 taels of docking fee for each ship per day, even though a guide agreed with him.Chen Yixin believes that the money probably won't be included in the local fiscal revenue, and most of it will go directly into the pockets of some people.Although this kind of thing can happen in other ports, it is the first time that Chen Yixin has encountered North Korean officials asking for money so blatantly.

Of course, Chen Yixin would not argue with North Korean officials for such a small amount of money. His mission was to collect intelligence, and expenses were secondary.But after half a day passed, he suddenly felt that the money he handed over was not worth it.

The commercial level of Busan is far inferior to the two ports of Hirado and Nagasaki, which were previously stationed in Japan. It is more appropriate to say that it is a cargo terminal rather than a trading port.It only took more than an hour for the people sent by Chen Yixin to get a clear picture of the situation in the port. This is not because the scouts and intelligence personnel are capable, but because there is really nothing to investigate in this place, and the port area can be seen at a glance. In the end, more than [-]% of the ships docked here are traveling between Japan and North Korea. The goods and prices of each trip are unchanged for a long time, so just ask.

But based on what we have learned, the value of this information is really limited, because the cargo volume at Busan Port is too small, even if we have the data, it is of no practical significance.After Chen Yixin convened his subordinates to discuss, he decided to reduce the original plan to stay in Busan for three days to two days.If it wasn't for collecting geographical information here, Chen Yixin even felt that two days would be a bit redundant.

Money is easy to do. This trip to Busan once again proved this unbreakable truth. Since North Korean officials like money, this way is easy to get through.When the fleet left the Port of Busan two days later, the North Korean officials in charge of the port actually went to the pier to see them off in person, and their attitude became a little obsequious. After seeing the financial resources of the Haihan people, it is difficult for anyone to keep their integrity intact. .

After departing from Busan Port, the fleet sailed westward along the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, turned south after entering the border of Hainan County, and sailed to Jeju Island, the last stop of the expedition.

At present, the administrative organization of Jeju Island is Jeju Mu, which governs Dajing and Jingyi counties.However, Jeju Island does not have an officially established foreign trade port. In order to avoid unnecessary troubles, Chen Yixin did not land on the Jeju Strait. Landing on a secluded coast.

In this era, there were only [-] to [-] residents on Jeju Island, and the environment was sparsely populated. The scouts who landed went out for three or four miles before seeing the smoke of the village in the distance.According to the information collected in advance, the nearest garrison to this landing point is also [-] miles away, so there is no need to worry about bumping into the North Korean army here.However, this kind of foot reconnaissance is actually not very useful for the big island with an area of ​​hundreds of square kilometers. It is just to look at the living environment of the local people, the cultivation of the farmland, and so on.

Of course, having said that, the garrison on this island is only about a thousand people. It can be used to maintain law and order on the island and prevent small groups of pirates from landing and looting. , there is no great need to investigate it.From Chen Yixin's point of view, a fully equipped reinforced company is enough to flatten the North Korean garrison on the island, so why bother to carry out investigations at the risk of alarming the enemy.Instead, it may be more practical to save this time and find a few more suitable places for landing on the southern coastline to prepare for possible follow-up military operations on Jeju Island.

On the third day of the reconnaissance operation, it finally attracted the attention of the local garrison in Jeju, and sent two ships to try to cooperate with the shore to drive away these unidentified uninvited guests.However, when they found that the sailboat on which the uninvited guest was boarding was much larger than their own, and was equipped with a lot of artillery, they immediately turned the bow of the ship and ran back, not intending to expel them at all.

This action of the local defenders also made Chen Yixin a little dumbfounded. The defenders on Jeju Island have such a weak fighting will. If they really want to attack this place in the future, it will save a lot of trouble.

Now that his whereabouts had been exposed, Chen Yixin simply ordered a public operation to survey and map the terrain along the south coast of Jeju Island.During this period, the defenders of Jeju Island have been unable to shrink back, and they have cooperated very well with Haihan's reconnaissance operations.After the fleet stayed on the south coast of Jeju Island for another two days, Chen Yixin asked people to buy some food supplies in the local village with money, and then left in a calm manner.

Sailing about [-] nautical miles southwest from Jeju Island, we returned to Zhoushan, the starting point of the fleet.Except for the small-scale armed conflict in Sasebo Bay, this trip went smoothly along the way, and the difficulty of collecting intelligence was actually much lower than expected before departure.This is due to the fact that people in this era are generally less vigilant about intelligence information. Many times, they are not aware of other purposes hidden by the Haihan people under the pretext of negotiating trade, and very few people perceive that Haihan's motives are not pure. For example, Ricardo, the Portuguese consul in Hirado Port, will not hinder Haihan's actions out of self-interest considerations, and will even help out by fueling the flames.

After arriving in Hong Kong, Chen Yixin only took a short rest, and then rushed to the headquarters to report to Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen the results of the northward inspection.

"...We have been worried about Zheng Zhilong's ties with Japan and even seeking asylum. So far, it seems that this has not happened. Although Zheng Zhilong's people have been active in Hirado, the Matsuura family in charge of the local area is not willing to intervene in Shibazhi Conflict with us. In my personal opinion, the Matsuura family is much more interested in establishing a trade relationship with us than avenging Zheng Zhilong. I also invited the Matsuura family to send people to Zhoushan to discuss specific issues at the right time. Cooperation."

Chen Yixin took a sip of water and continued to introduce: "But if we plan to build a colony in Sasebo Bay, it will be difficult to judge the attitude of the Matsuura clan. The distance between these two places is too close, and they may be considered a threat by them, which will affect the Our trade progress in Japan."

"Then what are your thoughts on solving this problem?" Qian Tiandun asked.

"If we don't intend to offend the Matsuura clan, then it's best to wait for the Matsuura clan to send someone to our side for an interview, to make them sure that we have no intention of occupying Hirado, and then take action against Sasebo Bay." Prepared, and immediately expressed his thoughts.

"Without Hirado's escape route, Zheng Zhilong basically has nowhere to escape." Shi Diwen is not very interested in the trade prospects between Haihan and Japan, and he is more concerned about the next war state of readiness.If Haihan wants to establish trade relations with Japan, the Eighteen Zhiyu Party on Miyako Island must be cleaned up first.

"You may not be able to fight Miyako Island!" Qian Tiandun said with a smile: "Zhoushan has not been completely settled down yet, and the Military Commission will not let your fleet leave here easily. I think when you fight Miyako Island, you will It is unlikely that troops will be transferred from Zhoushan if they are transferred from the south."

Shi Diwen said: "Drop the troops from the south? Then Tom Wang can only go out in person?"

"Maybe Mr. Yan will also join in, after all, they haven't been active for a long time." Qian Tiandun reminded.

Shi Diwen sighed and said: "If this arrangement is really made, then you and I are really out of luck."

"Let's talk about the matter of Miyako Island later, and listen to Chen Yixin's briefing first." Qian Tiandun returned the topic to the current matter: "How is Jeju Island?"

Chen Yixin responded: "The defenders on Jeju Island were weak in fighting will. Although they discovered our activities, they did not take effective measures to drive us away. I don't think it will be too difficult to attack Jeju Island, but the island is small in size. Small, if we want to fully occupy the local area, we must send too few troops. In addition, there is no relatively large natural harbor on the south coast of Jeju Island, which is not suitable for development as a trade zone."

Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "I have discussed this matter with the Ministry of Agriculture. They mean that if there is a chance to take Jeju Island in the future, they will mainly develop it as agricultural land. Plant food, cash crops, and develop animal husbandry , after the formation of scale, we will develop some supporting industries for deep processing. One advantage of Jeju Island is that it is close to the Korean Peninsula. This situation is somewhat similar to when we were on Hainan Island in the early days of crossing. It can be built relying on the population and market of the Korean Peninsula. develop."

Chen Yixin said: "The source of our immigration was very complicated, we did not completely rely on Ming Dynasty, and Jeju Island may have to rely mainly on the import of people from the Korean Peninsula, but Koreans may not be willing to immigrate to Jeju Island."

Qian Tiandun replied: "This is not a big problem. The immigration policy we implemented in Daming is relatively conservative because we don't want to offend the Ming court and affect our relationship with the trade market of Daming. But North Korea It’s different here. We don’t need to have so many scruples in our actions. If we encounter resistance, we can take the necessary measures to solve it. The number of voluntary immigrants is not enough, so we should use coercive means. When we moved from Fujian to Taiwan Island to settle How many of the Han Chinese went there voluntarily? As long as we can provide them with basic living security, a safe living environment, and a reasonable way to ascend, we will soon be able to appease people’s hearts.”

Qian Tiandun's words were very straightforward, and Chen Yixin naturally understood what he meant.If relying on the traditional method of recruiting immigrants cannot meet the labor demand of Jeju Island, then simply send troops to the Korean peninsula to plunder the population and force them to move to Jeju Island to settle down.Although this method seems simple and crude, it is almost the only feasible way to obtain a large amount of labor in a short period of time.Of course, if such a method is adopted, the conflict with the Lee Dynasty of North Korea is basically inevitable.

(End of this chapter)