Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Ningxiang Pavilion, an elegantly decorated guest room.

"Your hair has grown so long, it's no longer appropriate to call you Monk Mingshan."

A woman dressed in simple clothes placed a spoonful of finely powdered steamed green tea into a black-glazed Tenmoku tea bowl.

"What is your secular name now?"

"When my uncle sent me to Hupao Temple to be a novice monk, I was only seven or eight years old and didn't have a formal name yet."

Xu Mingshan's eyes followed the woman's movements.

"I have only been a monk for less than a year now, and I have gone on two trips to the sea with my uncle. I will use my Buddhist name from when I was a monk as my nickname. My family name is Xu, so I will call myself Xu Mingshan."

Sister Qiao'er, please still call me Mingshan as before, just don't add "monk" after it.

My uncle said that after he finished his business in Hangzhou, he would take me back to our ancestral home in Huizhou so that the elders of the clan could give me a proper name.

"Xu Mingshan is a very good name. It was also the Buddhist name you used when we first met. I like it very much."

The woman gently picked up the teapot from the charcoal stove and poured water into the black-glazed temmoku teacup.

"I don't want you to change it. Talk to your uncle and see if you can use this name as your formal name from now on?"

"Sister Qiao'er likes this name, and I want to use it for the rest of my life."

Xu Mingshan nodded repeatedly.

"My uncle loves me the most, he will definitely agree."

"I knew it, Mingshan, you understand me the most in this world."

The woman smiled slightly.

"You just mentioned that your uncle took you on two trips to the sea. Which places did you go?"

"Last time, my uncle asked me to return to secular life and run a maritime trade business with him. I left in such a hurry that I didn't even have time to say goodbye to you, Sister Qiao'er."

Xu Mingshan stared into the woman's eyes, his face filled with excitement.

My uncle first took me to Shuangyu Port.

When I was a novice monk at Hupao Temple, I never imagined that there would be such a wonderful place near Ningbo Prefecture, just a few hundred miles away.

Sister Qiao'er, you haven't been there. Besides the Ming people, there are also many Japanese, Westerners, and many foreigners whose names I don't know on Liuhang Island. I can't understand what these people are saying at all.

The island is full of shops selling many things that I've never even heard of, let alone seen before.

My uncle and several fellow villagers and friends from Huizhou bought a ship full of goods there and then crossed the sea to Japan.

I made two trips, both along this route.

"You went to Japan?"

The woman picked up a small tea whisk and stirred it clockwise in the black-glazed temmoku teacup.

"Mingshan, what goods did you handle at Shuangyu Port, and where in Japan did you sell them?"

"These are all goods produced in the Ming Dynasty, including raw silk, silk fabrics, porcelain, and Songjiang cotton cloth."

Xu Mingshan thought for a moment,

"My uncle's ship departed from Shuangyu Port and first went to a small island off the coast of Japan. There, it rested for a while and sold some of its goods to the Japanese on the island."

My uncle told me that the island was called Shiga Island, and the Japanese leader on the island was named Uku.

There are many small islands near Shiga Island, which are said to be the territory of the Uku clan. Most of the Ming Dynasty merchants traveling from Shuangyu to Japan would transit through these islands.

After leaving Shiga Island, we continued our voyage to Japan, arriving at a place called Matsuurazu, which is located on a small island called Hirado.

However, this place is very close to Kyushu, one of Japan's main islands. My uncle took me to see the beach on the island, which is only about a mile away across the water.

In Matsuura-tsu, the remaining cargo on my uncle's ship was all packed up and sold to the local Matsuura family. We didn't go any further into the Japanese interior.

On our return trip from Japan, we also purchased our goods on Hirado Island.

There were many Ming Dynasty maritime merchants in Matsuura-tsu.

I asked around at the tavern and found out that there is a port called Hakata, about 200 miles east of Hirado Island.

Before the Ningbo Maritime Trade Office was closed by the imperial court, Japanese merchant ships holding valid permits departed from there.

It is said that the price of Ming Dynasty goods in Hakata is much higher than that in Shiga Island and Hirado Island, but almost no Ming Dynasty merchant ships sail directly to Hakata.

I overheard some sailors, after they'd had a few too much to drink, talking about how occasionally someone would try to sail directly to Hakata to sell goods, but after setting sail, they'd all vanish without a trace.

"Of course. If you went straight to Hakata, what would the Matsuura and Uku families eat?"

The woman chuckled softly.

"My uncle said that the Matsuura family and the Uku family were both pirates and were related by marriage."

They had an agreement with several "owners" of Shuangyu Port that goods transported by Ming Dynasty maritime merchants from Shuangyu to Japan could only be sold to these two companies.

The Japanese goods shipped back to Shuangyu Port also need to be purchased from them.

Xu Mingshan nodded.

"The situation at Shuangyu Port is similar. Large quantities of goods transported to the island by small and medium-sized maritime merchants can only be packaged and sold directly to a few 'Macau owners'."

Those who can afford to build trading posts on Liuhang Island are all powerful maritime merchants.

"All the money you earn from your hard work at sea is actually taken by these people."

The woman stopped what she was doing; at this moment, a lot of white foam had risen to the surface of the black-glazed temmoku teacup.

"How much silver can you earn from these two sea voyages?"

"There are quite a few. Before I went to Japan, I never expected that Ming Dynasty goods could be so expensive there."

When Xu Mingshan mentioned this matter, a smile was clearly on his face.

"My uncle's ship is a 400-ton Fujian ship. After deducting all expenses, it can make a profit of about 200 taels of silver per round trip."

The biggest profit came from the trip from Shuangyu Port to Japan, when he brought back a ship full of Japanese goods, but the profit was less than forty taels.

The Japanese I met in Hirado clearly had a much lower standard of living than the ordinary people in Hangzhou during the Ming Dynasty. I really don't know where they got so much money.

"Because Japan produces silver, and not only silver, but also gold."

The gold and silver you brought back were actually Japanese goods.

The woman held the black-glazed temmoku cup up to her eyebrows with both hands.

"The tea is ready, try my cooking."

"This tea smells so good, I almost don't want to drink it."

Xu Mingshan took the black-glazed temmoku cup and took a small sip.

After setting down his teacup, Xu Mingshan took out a small, exquisite wooden box from his pocket and placed it in front of the woman.

"Sister Qiao'er, open this and take a look. This is a gift I brought for you. It's very special."

"I'd like to see what rare things you've brought me."

The woman picked up the small box and gently opened it.

"This is...?!"

The woman's expression froze instantly. After a few seconds, she slowly reached into the box, took out the contents, and examined them carefully.

"Mingshan, where did you get this?"

"I bought it."

Seeing the woman's expression, Xu Mingshan quickly said,

"Sister Qiao'er, I don't have much money, so I can't afford the whole thing. This is a fragment I bought on Rokuyo Island before my second trip to Japan."

After I brought it to Hirado, I had the craftsmen there smooth the edges and frame it with local lacquerware.

"You're saying you bought this?"

The woman stared at a small glass mirror, no bigger than half a palm, and muttered to herself.

"How could you possibly afford something like this?!"