At this time, the crew of the Flying did not know that they were about to face a disaster - the one thousand-ton New Spain alone was not something that the Flying could fight head-on, and the New Spain authorities also sent four other A warship of 800 to 600 tons came to the Far East with the New Spain!
Moreover, King Philip IV of Spain also issued an order to form the Eastern Fleet and transferred from the Caribbean García de Toledo-Mendo, one of the seven captains of the Spanish Empire who had participated in the Battle of the Downs. Sa serves as commander of the Eastern Fleet!
This Garcia de Toledo Mendoza is so awesome. After the Battle of Downs, he became recognized as one of the seven captains of the Spanish Navy - in that battle, there were as many as 77 ships. When the Spanish fleet anchored at the Downs anchorage, it was caught off guard by 117 Dutch warships. In the end, only the seven bravest captains commanded their warships to break out of the encirclement...
In any case, Garcia de Toledo-Mendoza is still recognized as a famous Spanish navy general. After the Battle of Downs, he has been fighting pirates in the Caribbean and has never lost a battle!
Such awesome people and powerful battleships all came to the East. It seemed that Philip IV really wanted to teach the newly rising Ming Dynasty in the Western Pacific.
At the Uraga Port Town Pier, Tokugawa Iemitsu and Sakai Tadakiyo, who were welcoming the Flying Ship and the visiting Ming Dynasty delegation, were looking at the pile of wooden barrels and wooden boxes on the dock in a daze.
"What is this?" Sakai Tadaki asked.
"Laozhong Sakai, these are the supplies prepared by the embassy for the Flying Ship." The speaker was Zheng Hongkui, the Ming Dynasty ambassador to Japan. He had been in Japan for many years and was very familiar with the senior officials of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was even close friends with Tadaki Sakai. friend.
"So many?" Sakai Tadakiyoshi looked at the mountains of wooden barrels and wooden boxes, "How long are these enough for the Flying to last at sea?"
"There are more than 10,000 stones of fresh water and food here, enough to keep the Flying Ship at sea for twelve to fifteen months!"
"So long?" Sakai Tadaki was surprised, "A whole boat of people just stayed at sea like this?"
"It's like this sometimes, it's very boring!" Zheng Hongkui said, "The sea is not very stable now, and the Flying Ship has to go out to sea to suppress bandits!"
"Are there any flower girls following you?" Sakai Tadaki asked with interest.
"Usually there are no flower girls..." Zheng Hongkui said, "But the embassy has arranged for prostitutes and will arrange for the crew to disembark in turns."
According to the regulations of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japanese women cannot leave the country, but Japanese prostitutes can provide paid services to visiting foreigners... In Nagasaki, prostitutes can go to Deshima!
When warships of the Ming Dynasty docked at Uraga Port and Nagasaki Port, they would also follow this practice and ask embassies and merchants in Japan to pimp - the dignified ambassador actually worked part-time as a pimp! So ordinary scholar-bureaucrats can't do their job, that is, Zheng Hongkui doesn't care, so his ambassador to Japan will never finish his job...
Sakai Tadayoshi nodded and asked again: "Do you have a nickname?"
"No," Zheng Hongkui shook his head quickly and said, "Even all the Taoisms are forbidden!"
Sakai Tadaki shook his head sympathetically, "In this case, going to sea is really difficult!"
"Yes!" Zheng Hongkui said with a smile, "But a short-term trip to the sea is still interesting... Lao Zhong, are you interested in taking a trip to the sea on the Feixiang? You can bring the flower girl and the surname, as many as you want. ah!"
"Really?" Sakai Tadaki showed a little interest, but he did not agree immediately. Instead, he looked at Tokugawa Mitsukuni, "Lieutenant General, are you interested in going to sea?"
"I'm not interested," Guangguo said. "I still need to discuss the schedule with Prime Minister Wei of the Ming Dynasty... You can get on the ship and go to sea for a while. It's good to gain more experience."
"Okay, then I'll go to sea and have a look!" Sakai Tadaki turned his head and looked at the "giant ship" that was anchoring. The expression on his face had become very serious and thoughtful.
The ship in front of me is the most powerful warship in the Celestial Empire, with a load of 13,000 to 4,000 kilograms and forty cannons... When will Japan have the same warship?
With such warships, Japan no longer has to be afraid of Spain and Ming Dynasty, and Japan can rise!
Japan must have dreamed of rising. They had dreamed of this dream for a long, long time... until Toyotomi Hideyoshi came to power before they dared to put it into practice. In the end, they gained valuable experience and learned that dreaming and practice are not the same. the same!
So now they still have to pretend to be grandsons, and make good use of the Ming Dynasty and Spain to let them provide arms for the Tokugawa Shogunate's war of unification - Japan can only be unified first and become a kingdom firmly controlled by the Tokugawa family, and then It is possible to rise powerfully!
However, Sakai Tadaki didn't notice that Zheng Hongkui, who was standing with him, also had a frown on his face, looking very serious, as if something big was going to happen.
Zheng Hongkui is indeed busy with a big thing, which is called smuggling!
According to the order he received from the Ming Cabinet Office, he had to prepare up to 10,000 shi of various supplies for the sailing ship smuggled to America... and at least 30 Japanese flower girls!
Ten thousand koku of supplies are easy to handle, but 30 Japanese flower girls are not. Although there was no shortage of women in Japan in this era - Japan's primogeniture system and solidified social structure made it impossible for many men without family business to get married, and also reduced the value of girls... However, the Tokugawa Shogunate strictly prohibited Japan from marrying. Women can leave the country unless they receive special permission.
So Zheng Hongkui can buy 30 flower girls in Japan with enough money, but it is a bit troublesome to get them out of the country.
In addition, he didn't know how the stowaway boat could enter Uraga Port?
It's true that Ming ships can enter Uraga Port, but that doesn't mean they can come and go at will without supervision. Not to mention that Japan has not been founded, even if it has been founded, even if it is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it will not allow the ships of the Ming Dynasty to enter and exit at will without supervision. There would be no such unreasonable requirements in the "Treaty of Suzerains and Vassals" - the suzerainty of the Ming Dynasty was not used to cover smuggling and tax evasion, let alone illegal immigrants...
Since Japan has not been founded and has not signed the "Treaty of Suspensions and Vassals", it has very strict supervision over Ming Dynasty ships entering the port!
Except for a certain number of merchant ships (holding Zhusin) that are allowed to enter the port for trade every year, other ships can only purchase a specified amount of supplies. After all, Japan has a limited amount of farmland and insufficient food supply, and cannot be transported away by one ship. , and the time these ships are allowed to stay is also very limited.
Of course, the shogunate's charter will always exist!
For example, the Flying Ship entering the port now is a special case. It can be filled with tens of thousands of stones of supplies and is exempted from inspection.
But other ships do not enjoy this privilege. Once they enter Uraga Port, they will be monitored by people from the Uraga Office... Let alone sending 30 flower girls on board, even if they are filled with supplies The cargo hold is also not allowed.
Zheng Hongkui took Wei Zaode from the Ming Dynasty off the ship with questions in his head, and then mentioned to Wei Zaode that Mr. Sakai from Japan wanted to go to sea on the Flying Number - this was not what he wanted to mention, either. It is being done according to the instructions of the Ministry of Rites.
Wei Zaode also seemed to be very talkative, and immediately instructed his eldest son Wei Zhongcheng, who was accompanying him on his visit to Japan, to make arrangements. Wei Zhongcheng was also efficient in handling matters. He discussed it with David Jones and Hao Feng at that time and decided to rest for three days and take Sakai with him three days later. Lao Zhong went to sea.
Don’t go too far, just go to the Izu Peninsula and come back in three to five days.
After making arrangements for the Flying Ship to travel to the sea, Wei Zaode went to Edo with Tokugawa Mitsukuni and Sakai Tadaki. Edo is not far from Uraga Port, almost a hundred miles away. It can be reached in one day if you walk quickly.
Therefore, Sakai Tadaki can send Wei Zaode to Edo first, and then come back by ship... At that time, he will also bring the navy of the shogunate with him to observe the level of the Ming navy up close and evaluate the navies of the two countries. difference.
