Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 34 Hideka's Ezo Raiders (12)
It was already afternoon when Xuanzhu and Silvio came to the Shishan Palace to meet Xiu's family.Silvio was flattered to be able to get the Japanese Duke in this meeting, and specially presented Xiujia with a velvet cloak to show his respect.

Xiujia expressed his gratitude after accepting it, and then asked the two about the operation of the western trade caravan.

At this time, only 100 years have passed since Columbus discovered the American continent, and 50 years have passed since Magellan sailed around the world, and the real wave of European colonization has not yet begun.But as a native Spaniard, Silvio still briefed Xiujia on what he knew.

But as a strict Catholic priest, Silvio still scoffed at the Portuguese Magellan's voyage around the world.It is firmly believed that they made a circle in the Atlantic Ocean and came back.

Later, Xiujia asked him about the situation of Columbus's colonization of the Americas. After learning that Spain and Portugal had begun to invest heavily in the Americas and started triangular trade, Xiujia had already made a plan in his mind.

"Master Xuanzhu, I have something to ask you." Because Xuanzhu is not a retainer of the Yuxi family, the Xiu family said to Xuanzhu solemnly.

"Your Majesty, just give orders." Years of teacher-student friendship, coupled with the kindness of saving lives, made Xuan Zhu very fond of the Xiu family, and generally would not refuse the Xiu family's affairs.

"I have ordered Mamoru Hatoyama Kagami to be responsible for the colonization of Ezo. I only talked with him in the morning and found that he did not understand the colonial strategy I said. I would like to invite Master Xuanzhu to go to Ezo as the governor. Of course I am ready I have ten volumes of colonization at your disposal."

After finishing speaking, he gave a letter of advice to Kenjiro who was serving on the side, and he passed it on to Xuanzhu.

Xuanzhu took the letter, and on the cover was written: Yuxi Duo Ezo strategy in eight big characters, opened it to see the following ten strategies:
1. Stable foundation

2, and buy territory

3. Daxing Trading

4. Comprehensive education propaganda

5. Encourage intermarriage
6. Develop skills

7. Supporting foreign races

8. Cultural assimilation

9. Unsatisfactory conquest

10. Rewards and people

Facing these ten strategy showmen, he explained one by one

The first one is to stabilize the foundation, which means that I only need you to establish a trading post and a foothold in Ezo, which is the Tomakomai that Hideka gave Hatoyama Shigee instructions in the morning.

And Xiujia specifically told Xuanzhu that there is no need to expand in the early stage, and only need to conduct peaceful trade with the Ainu to give them a good impression.Of course, in order to prevent the uncivilized Ainu from attacking, it is necessary to build a strong fortress.

The second article and buying land means buying the land around the settlements from the Ainu people with the continued supplies of grain, cloth, and tea, and cultivating them. Refer to the purchase of the American territory of Spain and Britain by later American emperors. It is not a problem to rush to solve problems that can be solved with money. In a word, try to avoid wars in the early stage.

The third article of Daxing trade means to transport low-priced Japanese goods such as paper, tea, oil, lacquer, pottery, grain, and cloth to Ainu in exchange for Ainu horses, animal skins, and beef and mutton.

After the meat products are dried, they can be transported back to the skill station. The Xiu family plans to use these meat products to improve the nutrition of Yuxi's soldiers, and at the same time give themselves a tooth-beating sacrifice.After all, the Japanese really seldom eat meat.

The fourth comprehensive teaching propaganda requires Master Xuanzhu to spread Buddhism and expand believers by using medical techniques and other theories that are hundreds of years ahead of the Ainu people. Only the Ainu people who have the same beliefs can initially stand in the same camp as you.Of course, in this regard, the Xiu family promised that Master Xuanzhu would send a group of firm believers and monks to help him later.

Just kidding, after the opening of the Shishan Honganji Temple, a large number of Yijizong believers returned to the Western Kingdom. These are time bombs, and it is better to send them all to Ezo to enrich the local population.

Article 10 Encouragement of intermarriage is of course one-way. Xiujia made it clear to Xuanzhu that local Uki people are encouraged to take Ainu women from the local tribe as wives, and each wife can give the tribe [-] shi of rice and corresponding cloth and tea and other materials as dowry gifts.

Even though the Ainu people are still in the Stone Age, but after they know that their women are so valuable, they will definitely rush to marry Ainu women to Heren as their wives.

Moreover, the Xiu family encouraged them to have more children, and the children born would be brought up by the governor's mansion to reduce the burden on the family.

What if there are not enough Ainu women in neighboring tribes?You have to always respond to the adjustment ability of primitive tribes. In history, Jianzhou Jurchen also went to fight savage Jurchen every now and then to plunder the population in the autumn wind. Don’t think that only Europeans engage in triangular trade. The blacks who sold to Europeans were also Sierra Leone during the war. Captive blacks from other countries.

Moreover, the Xiu family did not restrict women from neighboring tribes. The Xiu family even knew that once this hole was opened, it would inevitably cause new conflicts among the originally disharmonious Ainu primitive tribes.

Article [-] The meaning of developing skills is actually very simple. With the expansion of the trading post in the later stage and the increase of the colonial population, the territory will inevitably expand. Then use the initial trading post as a fulcrum to spread around and establish new settlements (refer to Israel) And requires each settlement to be connected with each other.

At the same time, food crops are grown in Hokkaido to reduce the dependence on skills.At this time, during the eruption of the Little Ice Age, the people of Daiming next door were living in dire straits. If the Ezo in the extreme north wanted to develop agriculture, they had to borrow winter rice and winter wheat from the Olu region. Xuanzhu explained them one by one.

Of course, in order to ensure a smooth passage through the Little Ice Age, Xiujia also introduced the civil construction version of the greenhouse to Xuanzhu.During the day, the sun shines, and wood is burned in the middle. In the evening, when the wood is not burned out, rush mats are spread on the roof to keep warm, so as to survive the severe cold. Although the cost of producing rice in this way is higher, it is also cheaper than transporting grain from Bizen. cheap.

Article [-] Supporting foreign races is actually a proxy war for later generations. The Xiu family has expected that after encouraging marriages, wars will break out between the local Ainu tribes because of women, so the Xiu family encourages Xuanzhu to support trustworthy returned The tribes who were transformed were accepted, and they were appointed warriors and lords according to Japanese customs.

At the same time, give them a certain amount of weapon support, so that they can expand the tribal territory in the war, and they are more willing to follow Yu Xijia after they have tasted the sweetness. Of course, it is forbidden to sell the long bows and iron cannons made by cutting down water pine to Xiujia. Make sure that Yuxijia has enough weapons to suppress these agents.

Article [-] Cultural assimilation is a bit murderous. The Ainu people have no written language, but they have their own language. The intention of Xiujia is to let them know that if they want to do business with Yuxijia, they must use Japanese. Schools teach the next generation of Ainu Japanese, and at the same time force them to use Ukita's measurement units to make them culturally new Japanese.

Article [-] If the conquest does not go smoothly, Hideka’s explanation is the least needed. For the Ainu people who are friendly to the Ukita, the Ukiya can trade with them peacefully and support them as agents. If it is necessary to prepare the army and cooperate with the subordinate troops of the local tribe to carry out the conquest, the territory after the conquest will be returned to Yuxi, and the spoils of war can be distributed to the subordinate tribes.

Article 20 The rewards and people are actually similar to the Qin and Han military attack granting land and farming systems. The Xiu family promised Xuanzhu to send a group of Yixiang people to enrich the territory after their trading station was established, and signed a seal, and each household was awarded an annual output. The territory of 5 shi is to be worked, 5 public and [-] people.

For the first sailors and Hatoyama people who arrived in Ezo to grant 50 shi to the territory, they can cultivate it by themselves or hire landless people to cultivate it.

For meritorious civilians, they can be promoted to samurai by leapfrogging, and for meritorious samurai, they can easily grant a fief of 200 shi.

For samurai with great achievements, they can even be granted 1000 shi, 2000 shi and other territories to make them the first generation of wealthy locals in Ezo, and use the deep desire for land in people's hearts to arouse their enthusiasm for struggle.

In any neighboring country in Japan, fishermen are always the most land-deficient existence. In the troubled times of the Warring States Period, a large number of fishermen can only form a group to become pirates, either to help the big merchants transport supplies, or to fight as the lord's navy, but the show However, the family clearly decided to give them territory, so as to further stabilize this group of idle people.

After Hachiro finished talking about his ten strategies, Master Xuanzhu once again expressed surprise at the young daimyo's unconstrained ideas, but he also affirmed Hideo's ten strategies after synthesizing Silvio's story, and promised Will do a good job of the No.1 governorship.

Silvio also obtained a seal of missionary permission from Hideka, which of course is only limited to Ezo. According to Ukita Ten Strategies Volume [-] encouraging intermarriage, it may be difficult for Christianity to spread among Japanese people, but it should It is helpful to assimilate the Ainu people.

Silvio was very happy to get this license and told Hideka that he was going back to Sakai Port to call more missionaries to Ezo.

After the two resigned, the Xiu family still had an unresolved problem, that is, who will be the big businessman in the transshipment trade?

The royal businessman of the Uki Family is Longzuo Konishi, but as the father of Governor Konishi, after a hundred years, Governor Konishi will definitely know the real situation of Ezo, which is not conducive to the Xiu family's "Guangji Road, delaying the kingship" of" policy.

After thinking about it, Hideka was still planning to ask his uncle Tadaka, but fortunately, Tadae had a very wide network, so the next day he brought Hideka a businessman in Okayama Town - Seto Kichizaemon.

The Uki family has three treasures, iron from Mizusaka, mats from Tsuyama and pottery from Bizen, which correspond to high-quality iron ore from Mizusaka, Tsuyama stacks from Mizuyama and Bizen ware from Bizen.

And Kichizaemon Seto started out as a bizen ware maker, growing from a handicraft merchant to a merchant, and opened up a business route to transport and sell to other stores.

After meeting Kichizaemon, Hideka was very satisfied with him, and after telling him about Bizen’s trade with Ezo, he quickly sensed the business opportunity. After the assessment, Hachiro gave him a business agreement with Ezo and told him that he is the only one who has this cooperation at present, and that merchant ships without this cooperation will not be allowed to call at the port.Of course, if he does well, Xiujia will allow him to monopolize the Ezo trade.

Benefiting from the big information age that exploded in later generations, Xiujia has a little understanding of the firing of several major porcelains in China. Although the current Bizen Ware is very famous in Japan, as a high-end tea set, it still needs to be imported from North Korea and the Ming Dynasty. It is a business opportunity!
Hideka immediately decided to take out the brush and ink to draw the structure of the brick kiln, and wrote down the steps he knew, and handed it over to Seto Kichizaemon for trial production, and allocated 3000 kan for the Ezo trade and porcelain firing. With the investment capital, half of the annual profits in the future need to be handed over to Yuxijia.

Kichizaemon, who had obtained the method of firing porcelain kilns from the Ming Dynasty, was very grateful, and he did not wait to consider the decision to accept Ukido's shareholding and dividends.Xiujia let him go down after a few words of encouragement.

Now that Bizen porcelain has undergone industrial upgrading, is it possible for Tsuyama Die to do the same?We can't let the "Sister Xiaolu Tsuna's" next door come up with Yuanjiang stack and disrupt the market with a tenth of the price!If you want to disturb me, I have to do it myself!

Today's Japan is a free market in the true sense. The administrators in power will not regulate the economy at all, just like the famous Tsuyama Die. After watching the rush grow wildly, the handicrafts made to make up for the lack of production are just sold to earn some hard money.

But who said that only the Yoshii River is flooded, and the Asahi River is also often flooded, and the two rivers are Bizen, which is the mouth of the sea, and there are really large areas of tidal flats that are not easy to deal with, which can be used to make tatami mats on a large scale.Coir raincoat, straw sandals and other items.Moreover, after the colonization of Ezo, a large number of civil construction greenhouses required a large amount of rush grass, and Xiujia could prepare them.

The key is that this thing is very tenacious. The rush planted in freshwater is used to make stacks and grass art, and it can also be planted in salty fields near the sea. For this kind of inferior rush, it can be transported to Ezo as a material for making thatched houses and greenhouses. , or used as the raw material for the straw ties and ropes of the grain bags, the rush grass that is ripe twice a year is like leeks, which is just like a leek, which is just a blood transfusion for Yuxi's family.

After making up their mind, the Xiu family promulgated the "Rush Law" to encourage the locals to plant rush rush in the salty fields along the rivers and swamps and near the sea. Waiting rush rushes are purchased in bundles of 20 liters.

Then directly hire the leading farmers who can make stacks and other handicrafts in Meizuo, and hand them over to them with corresponding wages to ensure that they have a stable source of income.

As for the finished stacks, mats and other supplies, they can naturally be handed over to Seto Kichizaemon for sale in the future.The direct purchase of the dealers has been removed, making the bulk of the profits controlled by Yuxiduo.

Speaking of Kodaira, a modern educated young man who went to the countryside, it really led the Yamauchi family to become rich, and the Hide family, who made matchlock material like mountain burdock, was also very jealous. As the largest user of iron cannons in Japan, the Oda family used matchlocks every year. It used to be a foreigner's patent to go around the earth once. If Xiujia can use it to make Japanese grass matchlocks, with such a big customer as the Oda family, can't they make a lot of money?

At the end of the Warring States Period, around the time of the opening of the Edo Shogunate, the Shinano area really thought of using this plant to add ordinary grass to make matchlocks. This material, which is of great benefit to iron cannons, was also ordered by the Shogunate to strictly control military equipment. hit the street.

Moreover, this plant is actually widely distributed, ranging from the Siberian tundra in the north to Changsha and Sichuan in the south. It is not at all that Xiaopingtai thinks that it is only distributed in Jiaxin.

It's a pity that not everyone knows about this lowly plant. After the Xiu family asked the Zhong family about it to no avail, they could only wait for the opportunity to ask others.

However, the economics of iron cannon materials brought about by this made Hachiro think that although Japan is rich in sulfur, it lacks saltpeter. Most of Japan's iron cannon gunpowder is imported, and foreigners earn all the money. How can this be possible?
I can't find a way to burdock. The preparation of saltpeter is a nine-year compulsory education. In order to prove that he is not a nine-year-old fish, Xiujia immediately decided to learn from the "public toilet master" Heifu to collect the feces of the local people and to smelt saltpeter with the local method. .

(End of this chapter)