Chapter 2083

Regardless of whether these Chinese-style warships belong to the Shiba Shiba Party, the Tagawa family or the Matsuura clan that rules the Hirado Domain, their owners obviously have considerable ambitions. Not to mention mature shipbuilding technology and construction plans, just building these warships

The time and money required to invest, as well as the large number of professionals required to put it into use after completion, are enough to dissuade most ambitious people.

Amakusa Shiro believes that the ships discovered in Tasuke Bay are not all of the opponent's armed forces. There may be shipyards similar to this one in other places in Hirado. Moreover, a fleet of such warships will be formed.

Combat power must be gathered together for coordinated training. Presumably the owners of these ships are not so big-hearted as to train maritime operations next to Hirado Port, so the real gathering place for these warships should be somewhere else - such as not far away from here.

Just two miles apart, the bay area of ​​Hakashi Bay and Furue Bay on the west coast of Hirado Island is more than twenty times that of Tasuke Bay.

Although it is very close by land, taking the sea route requires going north from Tasuke Bay and bypassing the northern end of Hirado Island, and then along the west coastline to reach the two bays. It takes two legs to complete the journey to the two bays.

The inspection may not be a task that can be completed in a day or two.

Of course, some information does not have to be obtained by going to the field. If there are other shipyards nearby, you can definitely find out at Tasuke Bay. In places like port terminals, as long as you are willing to spend a little money, you can basically get it.

It is easy to get information about the local area. Tasuke Bay is no exception. Amakusa Shiro only spent a small amount of silver to get the information he wanted.

Just as he suspected, there is another shipyard in Hakashi Bay on the west coast of Hirado Island, which is larger than this one. However, this shipyard is located far away from Tasuke Bay.

It's not close, but it is closer to Hirado Port. It is said that from Hirado Port to the west, you can climb over a not-high mountain ridge and walk about four or five miles on the mountain road, and you can see where the shipyard is.

Amakusa Shiro noticed that although there were no shelter measures around the docks of the shipyard, there were some cold-eyed ronin with swords walking around in groups. He thought that these people should be the guards deployed here, so be careful

There were idle people approaching these warships under construction. Amakusa Shiro had no curiosity about the shipbuilding technology of these Chinese warships, so he did not intend to risk getting close to the dock.

After Amakusa Shiro confirmed the situation of the dock, he set off for Hirado Port. The land distance from Tasuke Bay to Hirado Port is only a few miles, and you can see the harbor of Hirado Port after about an hour's walk.

This concave harbor is even smaller than Tasuke Bay, but it has been one of the busiest trading ports in Japan for a long time.

Compared with the seaport town in Tasuke Bay, Hirado Port is indeed much more prosperous. Standing on the high hillside, Amakusa Shiro can see at a glance the well-planned urban area near the port. The bustling flow of people on the pier is indeed...

What a trading port should look like.

The ships that come to Hirado for trade are not just from foreign countries. There are also many merchants from all over Japan who come here to trade. Therefore, the market in Hirado not only has goods from foreign countries, but also brings together people from all regions in Japan.

Souvenirs are grown. Over time, Hirado has become not only a foreign trade port, but also a distribution center for various high-end products in Japan.

The prosperous trade not only brought a lot of business opportunities and funds to the Hirado Domain, but also brought together people of all kinds from all over the place. Amakusa Shiro strolled around the streets for a while and saw quite a few foreign people.

, in addition to Europeans with tall noses and deep eyes, there are even Arab businessmen wearing turbans. God knows how these people came to Hirado.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate had strict regulations on the nationality of foreign merchants allowed to enter Hirado, this was undoubtedly a way to cut off the financial resources of the rulers of Hirado, which was inconsistent with Hirado Port's long-standing position as a free trade port.

It is not consistent either. Therefore, in the specific implementation process, the Matsuura clan of the Hirado clan would be somewhat overt and covert, deliberately leaving some room for foreign businessmen to operate, and only symbolically checking and registering people entering and leaving the port.

Even the Portuguese, who had moved their business headquarters to Nagasaki, still occasionally came to Hirado quietly to purchase some Japanese products.

In this relatively relaxed environment, it would not be very difficult for Amakusa Shiro to enter Hirado Port. However, he still did not dare to be careless. There may be many fish that escaped the Shibashiba here, and it is impossible to say that some of them are related to himself.

If the identity of the person I met is revealed, no one in Hirado can help him escape.

Compared to Tasuke Bay, where we stayed one night yesterday, there are obviously many more news sources here in Hirado Port. Every restaurant, tavern, inn, and shop is a place where Amakusa Shiro can play his part.

But Amakusa Shiro also has a big problem, that is, he is not from the intelligence system. Before joining the army, he was a down-and-out samurai. After joining the army, he learned to lead troops in war. However, investigating clues and collecting intelligence is not his specialty. It is mainly for him to perform this task.

Or because of his Japanese identity, it feels like rushing a duck to the shelves. Although Amakusa Shiro is very positive about this, it cannot cover up his professional shortcomings.

There are indeed many sources of information in Hirado Port, but how to filter out valuable information from the numerous messages is actually a technical task. Based on the information he had previously obtained, Amakusa Shiro believes that in order to find the Eighteen Shiba Yu Party

The traces in the local area will probably land in the Tagawa family. This is the most obvious clue at present.

So Amakusa Shiro first tried to find a small shop that was an intermediary business. He claimed to be a businessman who had just come from Kumamoto and Hirado to do business. He wanted to know the local market conditions, especially the merchants who were relatively powerful in shipping.

His idea is very straightforward. Since the Tagawa family has the ability to build Chinese-style warships near Hirado Port, it must also have the corresponding ability and technology to mass-build commercial sailing ships. Its shipping strength must not be inferior. From this perspective, let’s inquire about the situation of the Tagawa family.

, it should not easily arouse suspicion.

Amakusa Shiro actually thinks a little too much. The local brokers are not too defensive against foreign merchants. They simply don’t think that foreign merchants would dare to cause trouble in the local area. They only regard Amakusa Shiro as someone who has the opportunity to make a fortune.

Object. Since the other party wants to know about local shipping merchants, try your best to introduce them to them. Maybe you will be able to match them and facilitate a deal in the future. Not only can you earn the current consulting fee, but you can also get a commission from the successful introduction of the deal.

Amakusa Shiro finally got more detailed information about the Tagawa family here. The Tagawa family was actually a retainer of the Matsuura family, the ruler of the Hirado clan, and was deeply trusted by the feudal lord. The Tagawa family had close contacts with the Ming Dynasty in the early years, and obtained

The shipbuilding and navigation technology came from the Ming Dynasty, so its shipping capabilities are not only among the best in the Hirado Domain, but even if the comparison scope is expanded to the entire Japan, its strength is also ranked high.

The broker did not know from what source the technology that Ming Dynasty provided to the Tagawa family came from, but Amakusa Shiro had vaguely thought of it. He had also seen the relevant information sent from Sanya to the Datongjiang base. The intelligence department suspected that Zheng Zhilong was in

The Japanese woman Hirado married, Tagawa Matsu, was from the Tagawa family. If this speculation is true, then there is no doubt that the technology obtained by the Tagawa family came from Zheng Zhilong.

As for how much inheritance Zheng Zhilong finally left to his widow in Japan, that is probably only known to the parties involved. But judging from the current investigation, the benefits that the Tagawa family received from Shibazhi may far exceed

Haihan's imagination. Personnel, technology, wealth, trade channels, organizational structure...are almost all ready-made goods that can be put into use. After receiving these gifts, the Tagawa family will naturally become stronger in some aspects.

If you look at it from Haihan's perspective, some of the small moves made by the Tagawa family overseas have many targeted arrangements for Haihan and the Fujian Xu family. The motivation should be revenge. But do these methods have other purposes?

It's hard to say, maybe these Japanese people think that as long as they recruit a few like-minded partners, they can start a confrontation with Haihan.

The several forces currently involved in this matter are actually not weak in strength. The Spanish have mastered military industry and navigation technology, the salt merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have endless wealth, and the Qing army in Liaodong has powerful force. Even in the

The Jinyiwei who caused trouble in Zhangzhou, Fujian, although alone, were also a privileged class of the Ming Dynasty. The Tagawa family, or the Eighteen Zhiyu Party who worked with them, were able to connect the forces from the south to the north in these days, which was considered important in this era.

It's quite an astonishing move.

But limited by their capabilities, it is basically impossible for these independent forces to launch at the same time, and the result of acting separately can only be defeated one by one by Haihan. Although opponents such as the Qing army or Spanish colonists are temporarily

It will not be eliminated by Haihan yet, but its ability to threaten Haihan has been greatly weakened. Opponents within the Ming Dynasty have even less hope. The lack of organized armed forces means that it is difficult to confront Haihan head-on.

Therefore, whether it was the Jin Yiwei or the private armed forces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants, they were almost defeated at the first touch. Haihan could defeat these opponents with limited strength without dispatching large troops.

At this stage, all the forces involved in this series of events have been attacked by Haihan. The Tagawa family's overseas deployment has also been turned upside down by Haihan.

Amakusa Shiro could not confirm how much news of these battles and confrontations that occurred overseas had been transmitted back to Hirado, but what is certain is that if the Tagawa family knew about the losses overseas at this time, they would definitely be furious——

No one can maintain a stable mentality after suffering such a huge loss.

So the next question Amakusa Shiro raised was whether the Tagawa family introduced by the broker was reliable, whether there had been any big deals recently for reference, or whether he could find someone who could speak to him to interview him so that he could discuss the business face to face.

content.

The broker wanted to facilitate the sale, so he naturally swore that the Tagawa family had both strength and credibility, and that he could trust them to complete the shipping business. As for the interview with the Tagawa family, the broker immediately expressed embarrassment. After all, he was

His connections are not enough to reach the more influential figures in the Tagawa family.

Amakusa Shiro knew that money could make the devil go around, so Dangjiu offered another piece of silver and asked the other party to think of another solution. The broker quickly put the silver into his hand, and then said that he needed some time to contact the other party, please Amakusa

Shiro will come back tomorrow to hear the letter.

"I'm leaving Hirado in two days. It's best if you can arrange a meeting before then. If the negotiation is successful, I will pay you separately." Before getting up to leave, Amakusa Shiro gave a time limit. The only thing he has now is

The prerequisite for being able to get it is remuneration. It doesn't matter how much money is spent during the mission, as long as the goal can be achieved.

Next time, Amakusa Shiro wanted to visit Hirado Castle. Although Hirado Castle is just a conspicuous ruin standing high above Hirado Port, in fact it is just a symbol of allegiance to the shogunate. A piece of land around it

The area is entirely owned by the Matsuura family, and it is said that a group of retainers, including the Tagawa family, also live there, so Amakusa Shiro plans to take a look around there, maybe he will be lucky enough to gain something.

Amakusa Shiro slowly walked along the coastline from north to south through the Hirado Port area. During the period, he had a bowl of ramen at a street shop. This long-lost taste made him feel a little emotional.

When he arrived near Hirado Castle, Amakusa Shiro discovered that although the Hirado Castle was in ruins, the fortress built here far exceeded the size of a Hirado Castle. The Matsuura family's residence was in the middle, and the perimeter was the residence of various retainers.

There are separate fortifications in each place, and they can support each other. This reminded Amakusa Shiro of the bastion fortifications he had learned when he was studying at the Sanya Army Academy.

He then thought that the Dutch had been in Hirado for some years. Could it be that the Dutch had some advice on the construction plan of this bastion-like layout? Although they looked like low-rise buildings, they were not as majestic as Japanese castles.

But Amakusa Shiro knew that the defensive power of this kind of bastion was far greater than that of a Japanese castle, and it was obvious that the Matsuura clan still put a lot of thought into this aspect.

Amakusa Shiro spent some time to find the Tagawa clan's residence, but the door was closed and there were two samurai standing guard at the door. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he gave up the idea of ​​going forward to find out.

When he was about to leave here, he suddenly saw a motorcade coming towards us in the distance, so he stopped again and planned to see who was coming.
Chapter completed!