Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 293: Ships to Japan

"I don't think Ming Dynasty is just here to trade ships. We should gather the soldiers and horses guarding each country and wait to prepare for war!"

"That's right! Shibo doesn't need 20,000 people at all. The Ming Dynasty must have mobilized the whole country to come, and the purpose is the same as the Yuan Kou back then!"

"We must be fully prepared. If they land at Wakasa Bay, the troops and horses that Kyoto can mobilize will not be able to stop them."

"Impossible, there is no need for Ming Dynasty to invade, and they are separated from us by North Korea, so the cost of sending troops is too high."

"If Ming Dynasty really just wants to open a long-term market, then this is an opportunity for us. Twenty qualified candidates will allow us to further control more feudal lords."

"Do you, Settsu (Osaka), do business with all your money in mind? This is a moment of national crisis!"

"You are all unfounded. If the ship is successful, the whole country will benefit!"

Inside the Golden Pavilion, when the noise rang out in the hall covered with gold foil, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sat on the tatami with a green pattern and watched the crowd's noise with interest, without interrupting their thoughts at all.

The noise lasted for half an hour before it gradually stopped. Seeing this, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu also spoke after they were completely quiet: "Are you finished?"

Seeing that everyone remained silent, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu set his sights on Ashikaga Yoshimochi, who was currently holding the position of general.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the eldest son of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Since neither his main wife nor his second wife gave birth to a son, he made Ashikaga Yoshimitsu his heir and asked his second wife to adopt him as his adopted son.

Seven years ago, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu gave up the position of general to him when he was only nine years old. However, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was transferred to the post of Taizheng Minister and still held the actual power of the shogunate. Ashikaga Yoshimochi had no power to participate in government affairs.

Facts have proved that even father and son will have conflicts in the face of power, and the same goes for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and Ashikaga Yoshimachi.

As Ashikaga Yoshitomichi continues to grow, the sixteen-year-old now has his own ideas, and he also feels threatened by his younger brother.

Compared to himself, his father favored his younger brother Yisi, so the relationship between the two brothers was not good.

In the long-term brotherly relationship, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's preference made Ashikaga Yoshimitsu gradually dissatisfied with his father, and he often opposed his father's political opinions.

Just like now, he knew clearly that his father was eager to gain the support and recognition of the Ming Dynasty, but he did not think that trading with the Ming Dynasty would directly benefit the shogunate too much.

"Yoshichi, do you think we should accept Ming's request for shipping?"

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu looked at this child who was growing up but still couldn't get along with him, and asked him for his opinion.

"Back to Taishei..." The sixteen-year-old Ashikaga Yoshimichi bowed respectfully, and then said:

"Trade with the Ming Dynasty can indeed increase our fiscal revenue by a considerable amount, but right now our revenue comes from three major taxes."

"Besides, we are subject to the local guardian daimyo, so after the Ming Dynasty established the city shipping department in Omaki and Sado, apart from collecting the undetermined amount of rent, we were unable to directly intervene in the "shipping exploration and cooperation trade" and make direct profits. "Kanhe" can be issued to the guardian daimyo of Kansai who are close to the Ming Dynasty and North Korea."

"In this way, as long as the Kansai Guardian Daimyos have the Kansai Talisman, they can make money from Kansai trade, and we can only get a commission from the trade profits of the Kansai Guardian Daimyos."

"In this way, the profits from the Kankai trade will be monopolized by the powerful guardian daimyo of Kansai, and our income will be very limited."

"Such a joint trade deal will not only weaken our strength, but we will also be branded as a traitor."

"So I think this kind of trade will do us more harm than good!"

Although Ashikaga Yoshitomichi was only sixteen years old, his analysis was not bad. He could clearly see the interests and benefits of Kanhe trade, so he won the recognition of a large number of nobles who opposed the Ming Dynasty's intervention in Japan.

It’s just that his concept is not correct for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, because in Ashikaga Yoshimitsu’s view, if the shogunate cannot obtain benefits from the Ming Dynasty from Oki and Sado Island, it can completely allow the Ming Dynasty to gain control of some areas under the shogunate’s control Open a shipping department instead of denying Ming ships entry into Japan.

"We can open one of the seven islands of Izu to Ming Dynasty, so that the Kanto region can benefit."

"No, the sulfur output of Izu Seven Islands is not low. This is one of the few goods we can make money from Daming. We cannot let them control this place."

"Yes, brimstone must be held in hand!"

When a nobleman wanted to set up a place on Izu Seven Islands for the Ming Dynasty to open a shipping company, he was immediately opposed by everyone.

Sulfur is one of the few commodities that can generate a trade surplus in Japan's trade with Ming Dynasty. Since Japan is an island country and has many volcanoes, the domestic price of sulfur is about six cents per catty.

If such cheap sulfur is sold to the Jiangnan area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, it can be sold for hundreds of cash. Even though the Ming Dynasty is preparing to open a shipping company in Japan, the purchase price of sulfur from Japan still reaches 70 cash.

In this case, it is definitely a stupid idea to choose one of the seven islands of Izu to set up a shipping department for the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty further controls the seven islands of Izu in the future, the price of sulfur will definitely drop.

"How about this..." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu saw that the ministers had been arguing for a long time but could not produce any results. In addition, the Kanto region was indeed closely related to Japan's sulfur products and could not give up the island to open a shipping company in Ming Dynasty, so he was ready to change his mind.

"There are no suitable islands in the Kanto region. Then according to Ming Dynasty's idea, Omki and Sado should be given up. Ming Dynasty can also collect taxes on the island, but half of the tax revenue needs to be distributed between us and the Kyogoku clan. In addition, they must be restricted from stationing soldiers and horses."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's idea is very simple. Anyway, Okini belongs to the Kyogoku clan. Although they have never taken care of it, it doesn't hurt to give them some benefits.

As for sea trade, this was originally a trade monopolized by merchants from Kansai and Kyushu. Now that the Ming Dynasty has come to Yinqi and Sado, the shogunate can also organize official trade to profit from trade with them.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty also promised to teach them a smelting technology that would improve the output of silver and copper mines. This is definitely a condition for the benefit of the shogunate and most of the mines in the country.

Sado Island and Oki Island have little value. If they can be released to benefit the shogunate, it will definitely be an option where the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

The only thing that needs attention is the number of Ming troops stationed.

In the letter of credence, the Ming Dynasty hoped to station 3,000 people in Yinqi and 2,000 people in Sado.

This adds up to five thousand people, which is already a considerable force.

For the safety of Kyoto, the number must be reduced as appropriate, preferably within 3,000.

"This one……"

In fact, the nobles did not agree with the idea put forward by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, because they knew that as long as the Ming Dynasty was allowed to gain a foothold in Omki and Sado, Japan would always be more of a threat, even though the lands of Omki and Sado were barren. , unable to feed the garrison, but they were still vigilant.

However, they also knew very well that the reason why Ashikaga Yoshimitsu put forward such conditions was because he was too eager to gain a sense of identity from the Ming Dynasty.

As long as he joined the Ming Dynasty's tribute trade, the Ashikaga Shogunate would also gain a status recognized by all countries, not to mention that he would be called the King of Japan in the Ming Dynasty's credential.

With the support of the Ming Dynasty and the tributary countries, he may be able to take his plan one step further and support the Ashikaga clan as the new emperor.

His ambition is already known to everyone in Sima Zhao's mind. After all, as early as seven years ago, he had his son Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, who was scheduled to become a monk, return to secular life and planned the "Children's Palace".

The so-called "Children's Highness" is to allow underage ministers to serve the emperor in court, and the protagonist this time is Ashikaga Yoshitsugu.

Under the operation of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu continued to rise to power, and finally held an adult ceremony in the palace with the courtesy of a prince, and was subsequently named a junior councilor.

In less than two months, Ashikaga Yoshiji successfully climbed into the top ranks of the public sector.

Seven years have passed now, but it is said that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu plans to make Ashikaga Yoshitsugu the adopted son of Prince Sadenari.

If this thing is really successful, then he can completely force Emperor Gokomatsu to give up the throne, so that Ashikaga Yoshitsugu can become the future emperor.

Many people have guessed his ambition, so many guardians and nobles do not want him to succeed.

But now Ashikaga Yoshimitsu seems to want to use the recognition of the Ming Dynasty and the interests of the Ming Dynasty's ship trade to protect Kansai, Kyushu and other places to consolidate his position.

In the face of the emperor and their own interests, many people are worried about how the guardians of Kansai and other places will choose.

"I have already written the letter of credence and can now send it back to Chikuzen, but before that, we need to get the Oki Islands back from the Kyogoku family to see if the Kyogoku family is willing."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had actually had his own ideas for a long time. Asking the nobles and retainers was nothing more than testing their minds to see whether they were leaning toward the emperor or toward himself.

Now that he has tested it out, he can just clean it up slowly in the future.

What he wants to do now is to promote the Ming Dynasty's ship trade with Japan and obtain the Ming Dynasty's approval at the same time.

After all, the more the Ming Dynasty invested in the shogunate, the less it wanted the emperor to come to power. This was in line with Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's ideas.

"Yes!"

Seeing that they had fallen into a trap, the nobles seemed a little anxious. They could be sure that the guardians of Kansai would not refuse this gift from the sky.

Of course, the prerequisite for their acceptance is that they must obtain a contract and be able to participate in the contract trade.

Soon, Fukuoka Keiyoshi, who had been waiting for a long time, got the certificate of credence written by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu also sent 200 cavalry to follow him south, preparing to go all the way south to notify the guardians of the Kansai regions and let them The Kyogoku clan transferred away the Oki family living on the Oki Islands.

The Yinqi family living on the Yinqi Islands only has a population of two to three thousand, so mobilizing four hundred people at full capacity is a problem.

As long as you give them some small profits, it is not difficult to get them to migrate.

Under the instruction of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Fukuoka Keiyoshi soon began to go south with the Ashikaga samurai, and along the way he informed the Ming Dynasty that the Ming Dynasty would open a ship trade in Oki and Sado.

Even the Kansai guardians, who generally supported the Ming Dynasty's establishment of commercial shipping trade in Okini and Sado, actually had different opinions.

After all, there are not many families who can benefit from the trade between these two places, and there are only twenty talismans.

If you want to obtain the approval, you will definitely have to build relationships with the Ashikaga Shogunate, which many of them are unwilling to do.

Compared to them, Kyogoku Gaoguang, the head of the Kyogoku family, quickly accepted the conditions of the shogunate.

Although the Oki Islands are volcanic archipelagos, they are not rich in sulfur. In addition, the local land is not suitable for farming. They are isolated outside Honshu Island and have relatively slow development. They have been a place of exile for sinners since ancient times. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will have any influence on Honshu. What impact does it have on the overall situation, but the situation in Izumo has a great impact on this place.

Once the Ming Dynasty established a shipping department on the Oki Islands, the food, water and vegetables needed by the Ming Dynasty's garrison would have to be obtained from the nearest Izumo country, and the Kyogoku family was the guardian of the Izumo country.

With this amount alone, the Kyogoku family will be able to make a lot of profits, not to mention that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu has also promised to distribute them to them, and 20% of the island's tax revenue will be given to the Kyogoku family. For the Kyogoku family, which has a population of less than 200,000 and a tax revenue of less than 130,000 shi, as long as the Ming Dynasty's Shibosi successfully established Yinqi, the Kyogoku family's tax revenue could at least double. They would not May refuse.

Seeing that the Kyogoku family agreed and began to relocate the more than 3,000 people on the Oki Islands, the guardians of Kansai and other places could only bite the bullet and admit this fact.

However, before them, there was also the issue of issuance of inspection certificates, but this was not in Zheng He's consideration.

On the fifth day of June, after waiting for more than half a month, Zheng He finally received Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's credentials.

[Japan’s quasi-third empress Minamoto’s moral letter is written to His Majesty the Ming Emperor...]

"This Ashikaga Yoshimitsu actually claims to be Japan's quasi-third empress Minamoto Yoshitsune. It seems that the information given by His Highness is indeed correct. He really wants to be the king of Japan."

On Noko Island, standing on the newly repaired pier, Zheng He laughed and teased Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Yang Zhan, Yang Qiu and others behind him also chuckled.

"Fortunately, he agreed to give us Yinqi and Treasure Island. In this way, the mission assigned by His Highness has been completed. The only problem is that they are a little greedy."

Zheng He set his sights on the conditions under which Ashikaga Yoshimitsu wanted Sado and Okinaki to pay tax.

If we follow the Ming Dynasty's commercial tax of one out of ten, then Yinqi and Sado can collect at least 200,000 gu in taxes from their trade with Japan every year, or even more.

If half is divided, it will be at least one hundred thousand guan, which is much higher than the 30,000 guan mentioned by Zhu Gaoxu.

Judging from Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's appetite, just 30,000 guan will definitely not satisfy him, but he will definitely not be given 100,000 guan, so he can only compromise.

"How much tax we collect is our problem. When the time comes, it will be enough to give them 40,000 to 50,000 yuan."

Zheng He compromised on the conditions between His Highness and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu because he did not want to destroy the market opportunity that had just been created.

Anyway, they will be responsible for the accounts, so they can just give the shogunate an extra ten thousand or twenty thousand guan every year. The Shibo Division, which has obtained the right to tax, will not suffer a loss.

"When are we leaving?"

Yang Zhan stepped forward to ask, and Zheng He also looked to the north after hearing this: "We will set off for Omiki tomorrow. According to the credentials of the Ashikaga Shogunate, they may have sent envoys to wait for us at Omki."

"Okay!" After hearing this, Yang Zhan began to give orders to prepare for departure, and at the same time asked Huang Wei to go to Fukuoka to inform Young Master Sadarai about the departure of the fleet.

Young Master Sadarai had long known that this day would come, so he took advantage of this opportunity to finally present 500 shi of grain and 10,000 kilograms of vegetables to the fleet.

After all, the merchants of Nogu Island will be an important pillar of the Shaoer family in the future, and pleasing the Ming Dynasty is an extremely important political task for him.

Of course, Zheng He did not take advantage of him. Instead, he was given a pair of blue and white porcelain vases as a gift.

The value of this pair of blue and white porcelain vases alone is enough for him to raise hundreds of zuzu.

On the sixth day of June, the Lower Toyo Fleet sailed out of Hakata Bay and headed toward Okinaki in the northeast direction.

They did not dock at Izumo, which was closer to them, in order to avoid unnecessary complications. Therefore, when they appeared in the southwest of the Oki Islands, the samurai on the observation deck immediately sounded the alarm.

"Dang...dang...dang..."

The sound of the small copper bell is not loud, but it is enough to warn.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's brother Ashikaga Mitsuru and Kyogoku Takamitsu, the head of the Kyogoku family, had already arranged a temporary tent to receive Zheng He on Okigo Island, and had people prepare a state banquet for Japanese nobles.

They once imagined what it would be like to see the Japanese fleet with their own eyes, but in their world view, the so-called huge fleet should be nothing more than hundreds of ships composed of four to five hundred warships, and Shao Er's The claimed 20,000 troops were nothing more than an exaggeration.

Therefore, facing the arrival of Xia Dongyang, they were well prepared and very calm.

But when the Toyo Fleet really approached Okigo Island, everyone involuntarily became nervous and breathed heavily.

Hundreds of large ships with more than 3,000 pieces of materials entered the waters of the Yinqi Islands, and the power that blocked the sky and the sun almost surrounded the Yinqi Islands.

"It's true, there really is such a big ship!"

"And there are so many..."

"Such a fleet may really be able to carry 20,000 people."

"Of course!"

The noise around them made Ashikaga Mitsurugi, the chief envoy, and Kyogoku Kokō, the deputy envoy, very nervous.

The reason why they chose to meet Zheng He on the Oki Islands was also to show their strength. Therefore, there were more than thirty warships with 200 materials on the dock of Oki Island, and there were even two thousand ashigaru and warships on the island. Four hundred cavalry.

In their initial view, such power was enough to demonstrate strength.

But now it seems that the power they thought was so ridiculous in front of Ming's absolute strength.

"Uuuuuu——"

"Dang...dang...dang..."

The sound of horns and bells came, covering almost the entire sea area, and could be heard clearly even on the back island several miles away.

Soon, ten sand ships were put down, and Huang Wei, as an envoy, took 200 navy to the back island.

When they arrived, Ashikaga Mitsuru and Kyogoku Kokō no longer had the confidence and calmness they had before, and they were filled with anxiety.

After the two hundred Ming troops landed, they couldn't help but feel guilty.

The shining iron armor and the tall and straight figure put all the Japanese on the back island to shame.

Huang Wei landed at the pier in his regular clothes, and bowed to Ashikaga Mitsuru and Kyogoku Kogami, who were headed by the shogunate army, in Japanese:

"I am the deputy envoy sent by the chief envoy. The chief envoy invites you two to go to the fleet for a meeting on the ship."

Speaking of this, Huang Wei also looked helpless: "Please forgive me, after all, the Southern Dynasty of your country has done something to harm the envoy."

"Yes... we can understand." Ashikaga Mitsuru and Kyogoku Takamitsu nodded nervously in response. For a moment, it seemed as if they were the guests and Daming the host.

They were allowed to lead a hundred guards to board the ship. At first, they were just nervous, but as the sand ship got closer and closer to the fleet, they began to feel fear.

The 400-material Shachuan was considered a medium-sized warship in Japan, but when the Shachuan took them into the fleet, all of them had to look up to see the Ming army on the deck looking down at them.

From the 3,000-material warship on the periphery to the 5,000-material treasure ship in the center, the 18-foot-long treasure ship is daunting.

They are like walls on the sea, impossible to climb.

Facing them, the one hundred shogunate troops riding sand boats were like ants on the fallen leaves of the lake.

Ashikaga Mitsuru and Kyogoku Takamitsu could not imagine how they should defend if Ming Dynasty's intention was to send troops to attack Japan.

Of course, such a display of force also made them believe that Ming Dynasty was sincerely interested in discussing ship trade. Otherwise, with the strength of this fleet, Kyushu Island would have fallen without any defense.

"We're here, please lead the guards up the ship's ladder and watch your steps."

When Huang Wei opened his mouth, Ashikaga Mitsurugi and Kyogoku Takako were shocked before they reacted.

It turned out that the sand ship had stopped, and a warship two or three feet high next to it had also lowered its wooden ladder.

The ship ladder has handrails and is very heavy, but the shipbuilders cleverly used a mechanism to store it on the side of the deck so that it can be used at any time.

Holding on to the handrails and feeling the slight rocking of the warship, Ashikaga Mitsuru and Kyogoku Takako were filled with shock.

Following Huang Wei, they walked onto the deck and saw hundreds of Ming soldiers who were more than five feet tall and wore iron armor.

What's even more fatal is that they actually saw a war horse on the boat. The war horse was tall, at least two feet taller than theirs.

They couldn't believe the impact such cavalry would have on the infantry on the plains.

As nobles, they could remain calm, but the hundreds of warriors who subsequently landed on the deck were too frightened to move.

Feeling embarrassed, the two could only bite the bullet and follow Huang Wei to the front, and saw five officials sitting on chairs.

The leader has sallow skin and no beard, and his deep eyes and high nose are eye-catching, but what is even more eye-catching is the exquisitely embroidered clothes on his body.

To the left and right of this person sat two people in equally luxurious clothes. Apart from Ashikaga Mitsuru and the others, there was no one under five feet tall on the entire deck. This was what shocked them the most.

"Give me a seat!"

Zheng He spoke, and Ashikaga Mitsuru and Kyogoku Koko also took their seats under Huang Wei's comfort.

Although the two of them sat down, because the Ming army chairs were all made according to normal heights, they did not dare to sit in them at all. They could only press their butts against the chairs. From a distance, it looked funny as if they were squatting in a high horse stance.

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "Japan's third empress Yuan Daoyi wrote to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

　　"Since the founding of Japan, all of them have been employed by Shangbang. Fortunately, Daoyi is the leader of the country, and there is no danger at home. Now that I heard that Shangbang has opened a trade in Japan, Daoyi is sincere and frightened. I paused and said this sincerely."

　　"I am extremely grateful for the incident of Ichibo Yinqi and Sado. However, Japan is a small country with few people and insufficient financial resources. I hereby write to the state to request that Ichibo merchant tax be given to me with more than half of the merchant tax, so that the people can be safe and peaceful at home and have no worries at home. Moroyi Pause again and again.”

　　

　

(End of this chapter)