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, following the New Spain to the Far East!

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 a lesson 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 a large pile of 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 top leaders of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was also 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 Ship 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 boatload 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

Still can't do it, that is, Zheng Hongkui doesn't care, so his ambassador to Japan will never finish...

Sakai Tadakiyoshi 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 will be 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 Tadakiyoshi 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 some experience."

"Okay, then I'll go out to sea and have a look!" Sakai Tadakiyo turned to look at the "giant ship" that was anchoring, and 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 the Ming Dynasty, and Japan can rise!

Japan must have been dreaming about rising. They had been dreaming about this dream for a long, long time... It was only when Toyotomi Hideyoshi came to power that they dared to put it into practice. In the end, they gained valuable experience and learned that dreaming and practice are not the same.

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. He looked 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 he also had to prepare at least 30 Japanese flower girls!

Ten thousand koku of supplies are easy to handle, but 30 Japanese flower girls are not. Although Japan has no shortage of women in this era - Japan's primogeniture system and solid social structure prevent many men without family business from getting married.

, and also reduced the value of girls... However, the Tokugawa Shogunate strictly prohibited Japanese women from leaving the country unless special approval was obtained.

So Zheng Hongkui had enough money to buy 30 flower girls in Japan, but it was 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 is true that the Ming Dynasty ships can enter Uraga Port, but it does not mean that they can enter and exit at will without supervision. Not to mention that Japan has not been a country. Even if it has been a country, even if it is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it will not allow the ships of the Ming Dynasty to be unsupervised.

Supervision can come and go at will. There is no such unreasonable requirement in the "Treaty of Suzerains and Vassals" - the suzerainty of the Ming Dynasty was not used to cover smuggling and tax evasion, let alone smuggling...

Since Japan was not founded as a country and did not sign 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 currently entering the port 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 something he wanted to mention, either.

It is being done according to the instructions of the Ministry of Etiquette.

Wei Zaode also seemed to be very talkative, and immediately instructed his eldest son Wei Zhongcheng, who accompanied 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.

Old Chinese go to sea.

Don’t go far, just go to Izu Peninsula for a tour and come back in three to five days.

After arranging the flight's voyage to the sea, Wei Zaode followed Tokugawa Mitsukuni and Sakai Tadakiyo and headed for Edo. Edo is not far from Uraga Port, almost a hundred miles away. If you walk faster, it will only take one day.

Can arrive.

Therefore, Sakai Tadaki can send Wei Zaode to Edo first, and then come back by boat... 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.
Chapter completed!