The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 632 Coming ashore
Zhang Weiliang was even more direct: "These people are old, weak, and young. What use are they? If they run into the people of the Ouchi clan, they won't be able to defeat them with a single blow."

Pan Yun: "Who told you to use them as shields? You are willing to do so, but I am not."

She looked up at the captives on the deck. Some of the old men there were former pirates who were old and weak and had no money to accumulate, so they had to stay on the island;
Some were captured as ship slaves and were forced to stay on the islands;
Not to mention the women, who were either bought to the island by the pirates with money or directly looted.

Among them, eight were Korean women and eleven were from Ryukyu.

All of them were taken to the island after the villages were looted by Japanese pirates.

They had all given birth to children and there was no possibility for them to return, so Pan Yun took them on board. They thought that they could either find their husband's home with the little information they had, or become slaves in Japan.

But no one will love someone who forces themselves, even if they have been forced to have children.

It's all just to survive.

After seeing Pan Yun's integrity, they decided to stay.

"Whether they are old people, women, or children, they are either Japanese or have lived with the Japanese for a long time. They have a natural advantage when traveling in Japan."

Pan Yun retracted his gaze: "We are new here, and what we lack most is information, all kinds of information about this country."

Zhang Weiyi: "You want to use them as spies?"

"No?" Pan Jun asked him with his head tilted.

Zhang Weiyi was worried: "Those kidnapped women are fine, but will the others be loyal to us?"

"Loyalty is cultivated by benefits," Pan Yun said, "I am not that narcissistic to expect people to be loyal with just words. As long as they are moved by the benefits I give them and are willing to work for me, that's enough."

Wang Cong couldn't help but say, "Fortunately, we robbed the three families in Benshan, otherwise, even if we took all the goods on this ship, we might not be able to support so many people."

When everyone heard this, they all went to see Pan Yun.

Pan Yun sat up straight instantly and complained for himself: "What are you thinking? I didn't intend to rob before I landed. I was forced to defend myself!"

Hu Jing was very suspicious. She had long since become a shrewd and calculating person in his eyes. "But you should have thought about how to use these people before you brought them on board, right?"

"That's indeed what I've thought about," Pan Yun said seriously, "but robbery... bah, it was counter-robbery, it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, not a deliberate plan. As for supporting them... money is not a problem for me at all."

"Master Pan is really amazing. He regards money as dirt and he doesn't think it's a problem to support so many people."

"Of course it's not a problem. We are here to seek revenge on the Ouchi clan. Don't they have money?" Pan Yun asked, "Could I have foreseen that there would be three idiots like Motoyama Peregrine in Kochi County before I boarded the ship? Would they have robbed me instead of doing good business?"

Pan Yun shook his finger and said to them, "Everyone, although I am not a good person, I am definitely not a bad person. How could I do something that goes against the will of heaven? I just had no choice."

When everyone heard this and thought about it carefully, they found that it was true. Pan Jun never took the initiative to attack, but always waited for others to make a move before counterattacking.

This is true whether it is fighting or plotting.

There were shouting outside, and Qu Le ran in and said, "They said they were going to pass the checkpoint."

This is the third and final level.

After passing this checkpoint, they arrived at the west coast of Honshu Island, near Izumo Province in Shimane Prefecture.

Ichijo Kenjin said that his family knew a small port that was used by fishermen to go out to sea to fish. There were no people from the Ouchi clan guarding the port, so they could go ashore from there.

Shimane Prefecture was divided into two spheres of influence. The western side was Izumo Province, controlled by the guardian daimyo Kyogoku clan;

To the east was Iwami Province, which was controlled by the guardian daimyo Ouchi clan. They landed at the port of Izumo Province, which was not within the sphere of influence of the Ouchi clan.

"…But in the past two years, the Ouchi clan has gained more influence in the shogunate and has competed with the Kyogoku clan for territory several times. The Ouchi clan has influence in several ports, so we need to be careful." Ichijo Kenjin explained to Pan Yun the reason why they landed at the small port.

"Can we avoid Ouchi's spies after we get ashore?" Pan Yun asked.

Ichijo Kenjin said, "I'm 70% sure."

He explained: "Over the years, the sea trade has been controlled by the Ouchi clan, especially last year and this year. For some reason, starting from last spring, they sent a large number of people to compete for coastal ports and villages. The land checkpoints were unguarded, so they relaxed. My family started to open a land route last year. As long as we can enter Honshu Island from Shikoku Island, we can trade by land."

Pan Yun: "It's okay if we don't have your household registration and travel permit?"

Ichijo Kenjin said nonchalantly, "We ourselves may not have identity information. Because of the war, people are here today and driven to another place tomorrow. Who would check this?"

Ichijo Kenjin was afraid that she would think he was not sincere, so he quickly said, "Don't worry even if someone investigates. I can prepare these things for you."

Japan did not have as strict a household registration and travel permit system as the Ming Dynasty. Most of the checkpoints on the roads were set up by local guardian daimyo, powerful families or temples.

For example, the port in Kochi Prefecture where Pan Yun docked was occupied by the Honyama family. If she wanted to go ashore, she only needed to get the Honyama family's consent.

The checkpoints along the way were also set up by the daimyo, and the Ouchi clan's people were mixed in among them.

The Ouchi clan would get a share of every penny collected.

"This port is a wild port. For foreign ships like us, we just need to pay a customs fee to the local nobles." Ichijo Kenjin said, "If you encounter a checkpoint on the road, you can just spend money to buy a pass or a hand. Anyway, it's easy. As long as you have money, you can pass it."

Pan Yun murmured: "No wonder Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister can run rampant in Japan. They can't even catch their shadow..."

Ship docked.

People were rushing towards them from all directions.

They were all ragged, mostly wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts, so the three men in long-sleeved shirts and long pants running behind the crowd stood out, even though their clothes were also patched.

Ichijo Jianren looked at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun nodded slightly at him.

He then stepped forward and waved in Japanese to the people rushing over, asking them to line up and wait.

Three men in long sleeves also pushed through the crowd and came up, looking up to negotiate with Ichijo Kenren.

Because Japanese has a strong accent, Pan Yun only understood 70% of it. He was able to deduce the remaining 30% by combining their body language and the sentences they spoke.

Xue Shao walked up to her without her noticing and whispered, "They are too poor to consume any of the goods. We have to take the goods away."

Pan Yun nodded slightly: "We have to deposit the ship here. We don't know if we can snatch the ship from the Da Nei family later, so we have to leave a way out. How about we use marble bricks as a deposit?"

Xue Shao couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at her, and when they looked at each other, smiles flashed in their eyes at the same time.

Xue Shao nodded and said, "Good idea."

Pan Jun laughed happily.

(End of this chapter)