I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 546 Nagasaki and Taiwan

April [-], off the coast of Penghu.

A fleet of more than ten ships, composed of Fu boats and Wuwei boats, took advantage of the north wind and headed south. After two days of sailing, they finally arrived at the dock of Dashan Island, the largest island in Penghu.

The wharf on Dashan Island looks small. It is newly built, only eleven feet in size, and has four or five berths.But the people on the dock looked very skilled.

I had been waiting on the dock early. When I saw a fleet of ships coming in, I quickly pulled the rope and directed the ships to dock.

After a while, more than 30 people were seen disembarking from a lucky boat. After getting off the boat, while breathing the fresh air, they couldn't help but look around and observe everything around them. They were very curious about everything in Penghu.

"Don't look around, we haven't reached Taiwan yet. This is Penghu Island, the only way to go to Taiwan. I am the clerk of the Penghu Inspection Department. It will be very hard for you to take the boat all the way. The dock is ready For food, we’ll rest here tonight before heading to Taiwan tomorrow.”

At this time, a clerk wearing a soap coat and a high hat came over.Seeing everyone couldn't help but look around, they couldn't help but give instructions.

"Hurry up and don't take up any space. There are people from Mifune waiting to get off. Follow me to the open space in front. I will call your names one by one."

After the scribe finished speaking, he ignored them and turned around to leave. When the people saw this, they quickly followed.

"My lord, is it true that you went to Taiwan to divide the land?"

After everyone walked for a while, a muscular man in his forties or fifty-year-old walked up to the scribe, rubbed his hands together, nodded and bowed, and asked.

The scribe glanced at the man when he heard the words, and then saw everyone behind him looking at him, seemingly wanting to ask about it.Seeing everyone's expectant eyes, the chief officer chuckled.

"You should be careful about this matter. The imperial court has its own regulations. Once it has been agreed, it will never break its promise. Anyone who goes there has a hundred acres of land, and it is fertile land. Not to mention that you are For the second batch, when the time comes, the land will be reclaimed as you choose. You don’t have to worry about not having good land, you just need to register with the government.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone present suddenly showed joy.

They originally came from Fujian and Zhejiang in search of a living. Before they came, they heard that Taiwan was a barbaric land. Many of them didn’t want to come at all. If it weren’t for the sake of land distribution, they wouldn’t come here. place.

"But you have to be prepared. Penghu is relatively close to Fujian, but if you look around, it is indeed a bit desolate. Taiwan is several times more desolate than this. After leaving Taiyuan Port, it is full of forests and trees. At that time, we will have to cut down mountains and build bridges when encountering water, and we will have to deal with the local natives. If we encounter a dizzy illness, there will not even be a doctor."

Seeing the happy faces of these people, the scribe immediately poured a basin of cold water on them.But everyone didn't care about it.

The middle-aged man who nodded and bowed next to him smiled bitterly when he heard this, cupped his hands and said:

"Thank you for reminding me, sir. We already knew these things when we set off from Xiamen. Who in Fujian doesn't know that Taiwan is difficult. As soon as they heard that going to Taiwan to reclaim wasteland is like mourning for a heir, they all knew that it would be difficult to come back."

As he spoke, he looked back at the people behind him and said slowly:
“But those of us are either alone, there is not enough food at home, or there is a disaster at home and we cannot survive.

Now that we have a way of living in Taiwan, why don't we cherish it? Since we can't survive at home, we might as well go out and have a try.Besides, after all, Taiwan is relatively close to Fujian. They are both the territory of the Ming Dynasty. It will be convenient to return to Fujian in the future. I don’t know how many times better than going to Nanyang. "

"It's absolutely true. It's better than going to Nanyang. The government not only provides fields, but also provides seed tools. As long as you go there, with this strength, I don't believe that I can't earn a share of the land."

The clerk's inquiry seemed to open up a conversation. There were many reasons for people to come to Taiwan to cultivate land, but they could be summed up in one, and that was to find a way to survive.

After reading this, the scribe nodded slowly. These people were, so why not him?

After Governor Yuan took office last year, he made great efforts to open up the sea. At the same time, he also reorganized the Fujian and Zhejiang navies, merged them into one, built warships, appointed veteran Shen Yourong as the admiral of the navy, reestablished the Penghu Inspection Department, and built Penghu pier.

Since this year, immigration to Taiwan has been carried out. People have been ordered to inspect Taiwan and officials stationed in Penghu. Officials who are willing to go are treated much better than before, and can be divided into [-] acres of land. This is the reason why I am here. .

"Okay! No, please stand still and tell me your name and place of origin one by one, so I can register them."

The clerk thought for a while and shook his head. After a while, everyone came to an open space. He sat on a chair and asked everyone to line up and come forward to register one by one.

"Yan Yougong, 32, native of Zhangzhou Prefecture."

"Ning Xian, 21, native of Longyan."·······
At this time, Penghu is a hundred miles west, off the coast of Macau.

Dulac stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the looming Macau Port in the distance, and said unwillingly:
"Let's go, let's go to Penghu and stop there."

"Raise the sails, turn the rudder!"

Lawrence on the side heard the words and immediately asked the messenger to pass the order, and then thirteen warships raised their canvases one after another and sailed slowly eastward.Only two carracks were left stationed off the coast of Macau, blocking the road and preventing the Portuguese from leaving the port.

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Japan, Nagasaki.

Nagasaki City is the capital of Nagasaki Prefecture located in the northwest of Kyushu Island. The long and narrow Nagasaki Bay is surrounded by screen-like mountains, giving Nagasaki unique geographical and port conditions.

In addition, during Japan's Warring States Period, Nagasaki lord Omura Sumitomoyo opened the port to the outside world, actively opening the door to overseas trade merchant ships.Since then, Catholic missionaries, Portuguese, Spanish and Ming merchants have arrived, making Nagasaki one of Japan's leading trading ports.

Among them, because Ming Dynasty is the closest to Japan and has a large number of goods, the Ming Dynasty merchants in Nagasaki are the most numerous.

Many people even received special permission from the Nagasaki feudal lord to buy land and build houses in Nagasaki, purchase properties, marry wives and have children, and were regarded as "residential Tang people".Represented by these people, merchant gangs mainly composed of Ming merchants were formed in Nagasaki City such as the Sanjiang Gang, the Zhangquan Gang, and the Fujian Gang.

They are divided by region. The business gangs help each other and exchange what they need. Each gang has a "headman" who manages the affairs of the overseas Chinese in the gang and is regarded as the leader.

The two most famous members of the Jialuo Gang are Yan Siqi from the Zhangquan Gang and Li Dan from the Fujian Gang.Both of them were large-scale merchants at that time, and their trade network spanned Luzon, Ming Dynasty, Japan and other places. As long as they were engaged in maritime trade, everyone knew about it.

But to say that the most famous of the two is Li Dan.

He originally did business in Nanyang, but when doing business in Manila, Luzon, he often competed with the Spanish. Therefore, he was driven out by the Spanish and was forced to settle in Nagasaki, Kyushu, Japan.

And it is said that Li Dan also provided financial support during the unification of Japan by the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.Therefore, after Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan, he gave Li Dan various privileges, allowing him to quickly gain a foothold in Nagasaki and monopolize the trade routes between China and Japan.

Therefore, he has nearly a hundred ships under his command, which are called "Chinese Captains" by the Spaniards. However, merchant ships smuggled from China to Japan must pay protection fees to the "Chinese Captains", otherwise they will not be able to pass.

"You and I are old acquaintances, but I didn't expect that you would become so successful today that you actually started doing business for the emperor. With the title of Imperial Merchant, you will feel more comfortable doing business than before."

In the Fujian Mansion in Nagasaki City, Li Dan was having tea and discussing business with a businessman who was over 50 years old. The two seemed like friends they had not seen for many years, and Li Dan even started joking after they met.

"I also benefited from my nephew. Who would have thought that he would be appreciated by the emperor and entrusted with important tasks just by translating for Tang Ruowang. When I heard about it last year, I couldn't believe it. My ears thought I heard it wrong.”

The businessman chatting with Li Dan was none other than Zheng Zhilong's uncle Huang Cheng. Huang Cheng had also done business in Southeast Asia and Japan before, so he was very familiar with Li Dan, but this time he was not here to chat.

"Yes, the Ming Dynasty is really changing day by day. There was a sea ban the year before last, but it was abolished last year, and it was encouraged and encouraged. In the past, there were only more than 100 ships coming to Nagasaki every year, including those from Franchi. But now , as of April, fifty merchant ships have come to Nagasaki. If this continues, business will become increasingly difficult."

When Huang Cheng heard what Li Dan said, he sneered secretly in his heart.Although what Li Dan said was true, he was not just doing business.The more ships come to Japan, the more protection money is paid to Li Dan, and the more Li Dan plunders. It is probably too late for him to be happy.

But Huang Cheng thought about his purpose for coming, calmed down, and said slowly:

"Since the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, merchants have rushed to go to sea. Now tens of thousands of copies of the boat guide have been sold, and I am afraid there will be more and more in the future. In the future, whether it is Korea, Japan, Ryukyu, Nanyang and other places, I am afraid that there will be people like me in the Ming Dynasty The figures of merchants. Moreover, the emperor has also sent envoys to the West, and our Daming Trading Company has also sent people there, and we will also go to the West for trade when the time comes."

When Li Dan heard this, he looked at Huang Cheng with interest.

"Don't say these words to irritate me. I think it's good to be in Japan. Even if the Ming Dynasty opens the sea now, I am living a very comfortable life."

When Huang Cheng heard this, he immediately felt that Li Dan was really a duplicitous person.If he really didn't care, he wouldn't have said it.

"Haha, Mr. Li, it has been nearly five years since Tokugawa Ieyasu died. I heard that there is a very good Yan Siqi in Nagasaki. He has suddenly emerged and is quite powerful in Nagasaki. I don't believe that there is no one behind him. And I heard that he has reached out to Taiwan now, are you just turning a blind eye to this?"

(End of this chapter)