I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 66: The Response of the Matsuura Party
Matsuura Takanobu replied in a deep voice: "This booklet says that the Ming Dynasty has issued fifteen maritime trade licenses. This means that when our ship arrives in Ningbo, fifteen businesses will compete to buy our goods?"

"Lord, what if they work together to lower the price?" questioned Elder Oto.

Matsuura Takanobu said nothing.

Elder Bing said, "If there were only four or five families, it would be possible to work together to lower the price. But now there are fifteen families, how can they work together to lower the price? With too many people, their hearts will not be on the same page. Besides, the Ming people are greedy for profit and have always liked to fight among themselves."

His words were agreed by the other two elders.

The family elder Bing continued to say to Matsuura Takanobu: "Lord, in this case, the Ming Dynasty has actually lifted the maritime ban and allowed us to trade freely. Compared with the Kanhe trade and only opening the Guangzhou Maritime Customs, the current Ming Dynasty's national policy is very friendly to us."

The second elder of the family said angrily: "What a bullshit! The Ming Dynasty should be completely open, we can go wherever we want and do business with whoever we want."

Everyone looked at him as if he were a fool.

Why are you still acting like a pirate?
In the past two years, the Ming Dynasty has carried out suppression operations by both land and sea, killing countless people.

Many members of the Matsuura Party from Hirado Domain fled, and many of them were killed. The few who escaped were also terrified.

There is no future in being a Japanese pirate!

Matsuura Takanobu asked Ishii Sanxing who was kneeling below.

"Ishii, what do you think?"

"Lord! I went out to sea and saw that the Ming navy had more than 20 ships as tall as a city tower, and the rest were 60 to 70 patrol boats, speedboats, and tower ships. It looked like a very reasonable configuration. It was obvious that this was a navy with rich combat experience."

Ishii Sanxing was also a leader of the Matsuura Party and led his men to fight in naval battles.

The Matsuura Party was a famous navy in the East Japan, especially good at fighting in the distant seas, and had once harassed the imperial court. The Matsuura Party was one of the backbones behind the Japanese invasion in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty.

What Ishii Sanxing said was referring to the Ming navy that arrived today. It was not just for show, but a navy that had been trained in actual combat and was strong and experienced.

"Lord, I also discovered that the Ming navy is equipped with a large number of muskets. I also vaguely saw a few Westerners instructing them."

hiss--!
Firegun!

Everyone was shocked.

The Matsuura Party was the first in Eastern Japan to come into contact with the Portuguese and the firearms they brought. They found that these things were indeed useful, so they promoted them vigorously. Over the past few decades, they have accumulated a lot of experience in using them and also accumulated a lot of experience in making them.

When the Ming Dynasty was suppressing Japanese pirates in the southeast, it captured some skilled Eastern Japanese firearms craftsmen, who came from Hirado Domain and Matsuura Clan. To a certain extent, they improved the firearms level of the Ming army led by Qi Jiguang and others who were suppressing the Japanese pirates.

"How many muskets are there?" Matsuura Takanobu asked anxiously.

"My Lord, the Ming people are very well guarded, and I cannot get close to them. But based on my observations and experience, the large ship that the commander of the Ming navy is riding on, which they call the flagship, is equipped with at least forty or fifty large cannons."

"What? So many!" The elders were all shocked.

They were well aware of the power of muskets in naval battles.

The Matsuura Clan roamed the East China Sea and intimidated the Eastern Japanese with the help of the large number of very sharp muskets in their hands.

Now the main ships of the Ming navy are equipped with forty or fifty large cannons. What can we do about it?

Everyone present was an insider, and they knew that the big gun that Ishii Sanxing was talking about was not an ordinary individual musket that was hand-held or shoulder-carried. It had to be mounted on a wooden frame, and only the one that could blow a hole in a boat with one shot was called a big gun.

Matsuura Takanobu said slowly: "The Ming Dynasty has a large population, vast territory, and abundant resources. Some of the Matsuura party members who escaped back said that the Ming Dynasty did not attach importance to firearms before, but after seeing the sharpness of our firearms in the past few years, they made great efforts to manufacture them.

In the past, we built tens of thousands of muskets and hundreds of cannons in a year. Since the year before last, we have started to build large-scale sea vessels, with two to three thousand tons of sea vessels covering the sky and the sun. "His words silenced everyone.

The family elder Bing said: "The Nanman merchants who came to Hirado Port said that in the past two years, the Ming Dynasty promised huge profits to recruit talented Nanman people. The news spread throughout the South China Sea and the West Ocean. Many talented Nanman people, greedy for huge profits, flocked to the Ming Dynasty.

Shipbuilding, cannon casting, musketry, ship handling, naval warfare, construction, surveying... as long as one has a skill, one will be treated favorably by the Ming Dynasty.

Lord, perhaps something happened in the Ming Dynasty that we don't know about. We, the Hirado Domain, rely on our navy and our foundation is trade with the Ming Dynasty and the southern barbarians.

We have to be on guard.”

Everyone was silent, thinking about their own things.

Ishii Sanxing reminded: "Lord, elders, the Ming navy is still waiting for our response outside the port."

"What's the reply?"

"They demanded that the pirates who robbed Ming merchant ships be handed over. There were eleven ships in total. I asked around and found out that they were the gangs of Xie Zhengyong and Chi Sanjin."

The elder Otsu firmly objected: "Lord, Xie Zhengyong and Chi Sanjin are friends of our Songpu Party. They have helped us make a lot of money in the southeast of Daming over the years.

If we hand them over, the Songpu Party will be isolated and helpless in Ming Dynasty and will have no friends anymore!"

Matsuura Takanobu pondered for a moment and asked, "If we don't hand it over, what will happen to the Ming navy?"

"Lord, the admiral of the Ming navy has ordered the blockade of Hirado Port. All ships are only allowed to enter but not leave. Any ships that dare to venture out will be sunk."

"Baka!" Several elders started cursing, especially Elder B, who was filled with righteous indignation and wished he could die together with the Ming navy.

"Lord, the Ming people are going too far! We absolutely cannot agree to this!"

"Yes, Lord, if we agree, the Matsuura Party will lose all its face!"

The old man said slowly, "Lord, Ming is a country that values ​​etiquette and respects dignity. In the past, even if we bullied them, they would still follow the etiquette.

If you give them a little face and flatter them, they will be very happy and forget the past. Moreover, they despise merchants very much. Those scholar-officials use merchants to make money, just like dogs.

The huge amount of money I earned was used to buy good farmland. How could I come to my country to seek justice for a businessman who is like a dog now? "

Matsuura Takanobu's eyes lit up: "You mean that the admiral of the Ming navy made the decision on his own today?"

The family elder continued, "My Lord, Ming is different from my great Japan. They are ruled by civil officials, and the samurai are reduced to their running dogs.

Their civil servants are ignorant of practical matters and have a high opinion of themselves. We can send someone to tell the admiral of the Ming navy that we will petition the court and send an envoy to the Ming emperor to apologize."

Matsuura Takanobu's eyes lit up: "Yoshi! I understand what you mean. You are threatening the admiral of the Ming navy, telling him that if he dares to use troops against our Hirado domain, we will report to their court and their emperor, saying that he is provoking a war without authorization."

The family elder said confidently: "The Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty listed our great Japan as a country that will not be conquered. Their civil officials are very opposed to military officials who arbitrarily provoke wars with other countries.

We can tell the admiral of the Ming navy that we cannot defeat him, but he has the Ming ancestral system and the discrimination of the civil officials above him, which will make him die without a burial place!"

"Good! Muto family elder is worthy of being the Kyushu Demon Muto, with his ingenious plans and unpredictable!" Matsuura Takanobu said happily, and then said to Ishii Sanxing: "You go out to sea again and convey Muto family elder's words to the admiral of the Ming Navy!
We can't beat him, but someone can control him!"

"Hi!"

(End of this chapter)