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The two sides initialed an agreement - the trade agreement will not be effective until Tsushima uses his seal, completes the appointment, and sends hostages. [Read the latest chapter] The two sides agreed to send a ship to Jeju from Malaysia in one month. The previously captured Tsushima merchant ship could not be returned until the agreement came into effect. To show sincerity, Jeju released all the captured personnel this time, and each person was given a suit of clothes, a pair of Australian straw sandals and two bottles of rum. I was given a glass lantern made by Lingao. Members of the mission also had their own gifts, and they also brought Zong Yicheng a set of bone china and a Lingaoyi revolver.
This revolver is a special edition - like the Nanyang-style rifle, it is a smoothbore percussion gun. In terms of power and range, it is really average, but the flash cap gives it an unprecedented rapid shooting effect. This is a big enough selling point.
"Chief, do we want to export swords to Fuzhong Domain?"
"Not necessarily." Ping Qiusheng was vague. Japan is currently in a "quiet world" state, and there is really no big market for things like swords.
According to the ideas of some elders, including Ping Qiu Sheng and Si Kaide, they were preparing to add fuel to the flames in the chaos that followed the national lockdown in 1633.
The Tokugawa shogunate, like the Toyotomi regime, had a deep distrust of imported Catholicism. To the Tokugawa shogunate, the Kieschitan daimyo were almost all members of the Western Army camp in the past. The shogunate had always been worried that the Catholic faith would be used by outside daimyo to launch a rebellion against the shogunate, and then collude with the Nanman people who had strong ships and powerful artillery.
The dual distrust of politics and religion made the shogunate's persecution of the Chechidan religion deepen. Since Kitakyushu is the main settlement area of Chechidan believers, it is also under strict surveillance by the shogunate. In 1628, the senior shogunate officials Doi Toshikatsu and Sakai Tadayo "inspected" Shimabara County in Hizen Province, and burned 570 Kirikitan believers to death in one go.
In 1630, the shogunate issued a "prohibition order": Chechidan believers were ordered to give up their faith within two months, otherwise they would be executed. Thanks to the efforts of Hiroshi Terasawa, Tadanobu Matsuura, and Yoshinari Mune, the "ban on religion" was finally stopped. However, the third-generation shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu once again promulgated a "ban on religion" in 1633 and ordered the main defender of the Kirishitan religion, Hizen Karatsu Daimyoji Hiroko, to commit hara-kiri with 240,000 koku. The Karatsu domain was subsequently changed and replaced by Yamato Shin. Matsukura Katsuie, the 66,000-koku daimyo from Mount Guishan, took over the temple leadership and began the brutal persecution of Chechidan believers. In the six years from 1633 to 1638, as many as 10,000 Chichichitan believers were burned to death by Matsukura Katsuie. The conflict became extremely intensified.
Although the Great Amakusa Rebellion was said to have taken place in 1638, there were actually opportunities to incite Kirishitan Ikku throughout the entire period from 1633 to 1638. The gaijin daimyo of the southwestern vassals: Satsuma, Chosu and other vassals have always been hostile to the shogunate. Once the shogunate cannot suppress Amakusa Toki Teishiro in time, then the gaijin daimyo who were brutally suppressed by the shogunate and were dissatisfied - especially The Daimyos of the Western Army who participated in the Battle of Sekigahara are likely to rise again. Many ronin who were reformed by the harsh "arbitrary politics" of the "Aoi Sandai" period will also respond - the number of these ronin has swelled to 500,000 in the fourth year of Qing'an (1651). I don't think there are that many, but there is always something for 200,000 to 300,000 people.
These ronin had no income and were burdened by their status as warriors. With resentment in their hearts, they will not give up if there is an opportunity to reignite the war and gain fame and fortune.
War and chaos together. The daimyo and shogunate in various places will need a large amount of arms. In this way, the policy of expanding foreign trade, which was effective during the Warring States Period, will be taken seriously again, and the policy of seclusion will inevitably come to an end. Various policies that restrict the outflow of gold, silver, and copper will also be relaxed due to the demand for arms. This point It was quite troublesome for Taira Akimori because the outflow of precious metals was serious, and the shogunate had restricted the outflow of silver and copper since 1616.
However, this wonderful plan involves a specific strategy against Japan - this is something that can be finally decided by the Executive Committee and the Senate. Therefore, Ping Qiusheng could only make some simple preparations and could not invest too many resources.
He said to Zichuan: "There are also some things you need to prepare for. The organization is preparing to send you back to Japan."
"Please give instructions, chief!"
"This time you have to make friends with Zong's retainers. If you get Zong's permission, you can follow the ship to Tsushima next time you come."
"yes!"
"After Tsushima has arranged the affairs, you will take their ship back to Nagasaki to do a few things: First, this time in Jeju Island, including in Taiwan, more than a dozen security forces were killed or died of illness, and two others If they are injured and want to go home, you have to send them and their ashes back. And bring the empire’s pension and medals to their families.”
"Yes, thank you to the Senate for your kindness."
"Secondly, you need to inquire about a person. This person is your church member, named Amakusa Shiro Tokisada. He may also be named Masuda Tokisada, Oyano Shiro, or Ebe Shiro. His biological father used to be a retainer of Konishi Yukinaga. , named Masuda Yoshiji. He was later adopted to Amakusa Jinbei. This man is probably eleven years old now, and may be living in Nagasaki. He may have learned medical skills from the Dutch... This is his information, please record it in detail Live. You must memorize it every step of the way. Now that Tokugawa has issued a ban on religion, you must pay attention to concealing your identity."
"Yes!" Zichuan didn't know why Elder Ping suddenly became interested in an eleven-year-old ronin, but an order was an order.
"You just need to find him, there is no need to contact him. Although Zong changed his religion, he secretly sympathized with the Catholic Church. You can find reliable believers among Zong's retainers who secretly still believe in Chichidan and establish correspondence with Amakusa. In the future, we will definitely useful."
"Yes." Zichuan suddenly felt his eyes sore. Sure enough, God had entrusted him with a big task in his dream.
"The villain will never give up even if he dies."
"The last thing is to see if we can recruit enough ronin." Ping Qiucheng said, "The security army has decided to add six more Japanese companies. You can go and see if there are suitable ronin - they can't be too old. . It’s better to be under thirty years old.”
"Yes!" This last task is the easiest. Zichuan thought that the number of ronin he knew who had nothing to eat was not fifty but a hundred. If we go through them to find people, it won't be a problem to recruit one or two thousand people.
The shogunate strictly prohibited Japanese from going abroad, and Japanese who had already gone abroad were not allowed to return to the country, otherwise they would be executed. This must therefore be done in a secretive context.
"District 11 can't resist shocking things..." Watching Tsushima's ship go away, Murasaki Hideji listened to Elder Ping's melancholy words that he couldn't understand at all... Maybe his Chinese is not good enough. .
But Elder Ping cannot just stay in Jeju Island. Jeju Island already has enough veterans. He came here to carry out trade with Japan with a two-pronged approach. Now that the Tsushima tube has been inserted, the other one must be inserted as soon as possible.
"Pack our bags, we have to go." Ping Qiucheng said to his life secretary Ping Ayako.
Ping Qiu Sheng stood on the deck and looked into the distance. Fujiang Island was already in sight. This was a Chinese-style sailing ship. The ship was captured by the navy from near Changchun, with less than 50 people on board. This unfortunate sailing ship was detained by the navy in the Tsushima Strait more than a month ago - the ship was originally going to Busan.
At that time, the navy's mission was to capture the Fuchu clan's ship, but the fire chief and general officer who interrogated the ship knew that they were not the ship of the Mazon family, but the Goto Zhou family.
Because they arrested a maritime trader who looked like a Chinese national, Jeju Island did not dare to make the decision without permission and immediately sent a message to the police about the situation.
A telegram was sent to Lingao. Ping Qiusheng immediately sent a telegram after learning about it: "All people, ships and goods are detained."
For Zhou, all the elders who are familiar with this period of Sino-Japanese trade history know this person. In the fifteenth year of Qingchang, that is, the thirty-eighth year of Wanli (1611), Zhou Xingru, a native of Jiangning Prefecture who set out from Fujian to trade with Japan, received the personal red seal certificate awarded to him by Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sunfu, from various ports in Japan to Nagasaki. Unimpeded traffic. This kind of red seal was issued by the shogunate to Japanese maritime merchants. If Zhou Xing was able to obtain it, it shows how much Ieyasu valued him at that time.
The territory Zhou operates in Japan is the Goto Islands in Japan. The so-called Goto Islands are an archipelago running northeast-southwest off the west coast of Kyushu Island and are under the jurisdiction of Nagasaki Prefecture in modern time and space. Including the 5 islands of Fukue, Kuga, Naru, Wakamatsu and Nakadori, as well as more than 140 nearby islands. This place was very close to Nagasaki, Japan's main external port at the time, and had many natural ports and anchorages. It was an important place for maritime merchants trading with Japan to stop their ships and rest. At that time, the Goto Islands were the main stronghold of the Chinese in Japan and their influence was considerable.
This time the Zhou Group's ship was transporting swords to North Korea in exchange for ginseng. Since the cargo was not large and the distance was not too far, they only sent a sailboat of about a hundred tons and a few small boats accompanying the ship. Unexpectedly, as soon as the cargo ship arrived on the ocean surface of Jeju Island, it was unlucky to encounter an Australian speedboat and was captured without any suspense. Although they were constantly interrogated after being taken ashore, they did not know what this group of strange characters wanted to do. Until the Australians told them that they were going to Japan with the ship, they still couldn't figure out what this group of people was thinking.
Ping Qiusheng has his own theory: after claiming to be the Hengwu Taira clan, his ancestors led the remaining tribesmen to cross the mainland westward after the Battle of Dannoura, drifting all the way to Fujian and settling in Fuzhou. Later, when the Mongolian army came to the border, the Ping clan followed Tuanzong and the officials and people all the way south, crossed the sea from Yashan, passed through Champa and Siam, and finally arrived in Australia. Now, 350 years have passed, and they are the second son of Ping Qing Shenggong. Twelve generations of grandchildren. When the ancestors were alive, they never forgot to return to their homeland. Coupled with Ping Qiusheng's Japanese that sounded strange at the time, people were somewhat skeptical of his statement. Naturally, along the way, the relationship with the locals became cordial.
