Chapter 2138

Yu Chengli waited uneasily in the Portuguese shop for a long time. When it was almost noon, Gonzalez finally came back. When Yu Chengli saw him coming in, he didn't waste any words. He quickly got up and asked, "It's hard work, but what's the matter?"

What’s the good news?”

Gonzalez's expression was a little complicated, and he was silent for a while before answering: "Good news? The Haihan people are preparing to withdraw their troops. Is this good news?"

"Of course this is good news!" Yu Chengli responded, but seeing that there was no excitement on Gonzalez's face, he quickly asked: "Is there any other bad news?"

Gonzalez nodded and said: "There is indeed bad news. The Haihan people plan to completely destroy this place before evacuating. There may be no Hirado Port in the future."

Yu Chengli was startled when he heard this, and asked tremblingly: "Then we...don't..."

"Don't worry, they only plan to destroy Hirado Port, not kill all the people here." Gonzalez comforted: "Besides, we are not Japanese, the opponents of the Haihan people are not us, and they are not making things difficult for us.

It’s necessary, but your wallet may be damaged.”

Yu Chengli finally calmed down a little and quickly asked Gonzalez to explain the ins and outs of this in detail.

Gonzalez went to see Simao, the Portuguese military attache in the Haihan Army, early this morning. However, it was not easy to enter the forbidden area of ​​the military camp, and it took a lot of effort for him to be brought in by Simao's men.

The friendship between compatriots and Gonzalez's generous gift made Simang patiently explain to Gonzalez the current general situation and the Haihan Army's next arrangements for Hirado Port.

According to Simao, all merchants, sailors, and other practitioners from foreign countries will receive permission to leave Hirado after verifying their identities. Foreigners can choose to return to their home countries or go to other parts of Japan, and their personal

Property can also be taken away. However, the Kaihan Army will not leave too much time for foreigners to evacuate. They must leave Hirado before the set evacuation deadline. Those who violate the deadline may have their property confiscated by the Kaihan Army, or even

It will be regarded as hostile behavior and arrested.

This arrangement seems humane, but it is not easy for businessmen like them. First of all, the industry they operate in Hirado will end here, and they cannot take away real estate such as houses and land.

The value of the property will most likely be wiped out directly.

Secondly, the Hirado clan officials requisitioned all local civilian ships before the war began, even if they were big businessmen with connections. Therefore, if the cargo ships under their names were anchored in Hirado Port at that time, they would not be spared. Now

Even if they want to leave, they may not be able to find a boat, let alone transport all their belongings. And I'm afraid they will have to bear all the related transportation costs themselves.

Such forced eviction will not only cause them to suffer huge economic losses, but will also bring the trade channels they have worked so painstakingly to the brink of collapse. Although Haihan also left them an option to go to other places in Japan on their own, even if

Going to a new trading port like Nagasaki, it would be very difficult to start over.

Yu Chengli thought about this, and of course he understood why Gonzalez felt that the Haihan Army's imminent withdrawal was not good news. For businessmen like them, the real economic losses may only start to be calculated from now on.

"Then the Haihan people are planning to drive away only us foreigners?" Yu Chengli still had a bit of luck, thinking that if the worst happened, he would leave Hirado for a while, hand over the property to reliable locals, and then come back to continue the business after the situation calmed down.

.

Gonzalez smiled bitterly and said: "Do you think the Haihan people are so careless in doing things?"

Yu Chengli asked in astonishment: "Do they want to expel all the locals as well?"

"It's not just deportation!" Gonzalez sighed: "You also know that the Haihan people started loading and transporting prisoners of war yesterday, right? It's not just the prisoners they want to transport away, but everyone here!"

"Everyone..." Yu Chengli was really frightened now. He had been operating in Hirado Port for many years, so he naturally knew the approximate population size of the local area, but the Haihan people actually wanted to move all the thousands of people here. This is really

An unheard of move!

Although Yu Chengli didn't know the real reason why Haihan took action against the Hirado Domain, he clearly intended to use a tactic to exterminate the Hirado Domain. Just imagine that all these thousands of people had moved away, even if the ruler of the Hirado Domain was at sea.

After the Han retreated and fought back, it would probably be difficult to get this place up and running again in a short time.

And business waits for no one. If Hirado loses its trading ability, Japan's foreign trade port will soon be transferred from Hirado to Nagasaki, the alternative. Businessmen must have their own interests first, and there will definitely be no one left.

Help the Hirado clan rebuild this trading port, and everyone will definitely weigh it before returning to Hirado to see if it can withstand the losses caused by another attack by the Haihan army.

Hirado was over. Yu Chengli secretly sentenced this place to death in his heart. Although these news were just hearsay from Gonzalez, Yu Chengli had no doubt that the Haihan people could really accomplish such an incredible thing.

He had heard before that when Haihan received tens of thousands of refugees from the Denglai Rebellion from the Shandong Peninsula and Jiangsu coastal areas, the refugees were sent to the south for resettlement by sea. Since Haihan had a few years ago

With the ability to organize the long-distance migration of large numbers of people, it seems that it is not an impossible task to relocate all the people on Hirado Island today.

Yu Chengli was originally thinking about how to get Haihan to let him go and save the local property, but after hearing the news from Gonzalez, he knew that it would be difficult to realize his plan. Haihan

We have already made arrangements to take over Hirado Island. How can we allow individual businessmen to stay here? If we want to force them to stay on the island, let alone protect their family property, they may not even be able to save their lives by then.

But it is impossible not to feel heartbroken to lose such a large sum of money in vain. When Yu Chengli bought land in the city to build this business store, he also spent two to three thousand taels of silver on it. If this war hadn't happened,

His business store can now be resold for at least four thousand taels, but now the investment has simply disappeared, and if he wants to move to another trading port, he will have to spend additional money.

Purchasing property and building a house is not a small sum when calculated both inside and outside.

Yu Chengli sighed and said: "Since the general situation is like this, we can't help ourselves, so we can only obey the arrangements of the Haihan people. But we still need to make careful calculations on how to minimize the losses."

Gonzalez said: "The news I heard is that the Haihan people will announce a compensation plan for foreign businessmen, but I don't know the specific content yet. Maybe in addition to returning to China and going to Nagasaki, there will be a third option. choose."

Yu Chengli said with some disapproval: "Haihan people are known for their shrewdness. I'm afraid the compensation they give will not be so easy to get. Maybe they are blackmailing us in the name of compensation and then cut us!"

Gonzalez also felt a little guilty after hearing this. Although Simang promised to take care of him as much as possible, there was no guarantee that he would not suffer further economic losses. What's more, even if Simang was willing to take care of him, he might not be able to convince the Haihan people to give him some care. Special treatment.

The two of them waited in this uneasy atmosphere until the afternoon, when the situation took a new turn. Officer Haihan came to Gonzalez's shop and announced to him the latest decision of the command.

Foreign businessmen have the freedom to choose where to go, and can take away all their property within a limited period, but they must bear all the expenses during the period. Another compensation plan mentioned by Gonzalez is for Haihan to provide transportation capacity. Send merchants to Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province. The transportation service here is provided free of charge by the Haihan official. If merchants are willing to settle in Dinghai Port, they can also receive substantial discounts in terms of land purchase and taxation.

Yu Chengli and Gonzalez are both businessmen, so they naturally figured out the meaning as soon as they heard it. The Haihan people were pushing outward with one hand and pulling back with the other. On the one hand, they wanted to expel foreign businessmen from Hirado and make them suffer economic losses. losses, on the other hand, it also provided preferential conditions to attract them to settle in the areas under Haihan's rule, so that they could effectively recover part of the losses without having to worry about safety issues during the evacuation of Hirado.

If you are still unwilling to cooperate with Haihan under such conditions and insist on doing things on your own, then Haihan will naturally not care about the losses of these businessmen.

"Master Jun, do you mean that if you are willing to go to Zhoushan, you can also transport your belongings there for free?" Yu Chengli asked cautiously to confirm whether his understanding was correct.

The officer nodded and said: "Yes, not only is it free, but it is transported by warship, so you can be completely assured of safety. However, the space on the warship is limited. It's first come, first served. It depends on who signs up first. I'm late. , then you may have to find a way to find a boat yourself. You decide quickly so that I can go back and recover."

"Please, Sir, please wait a moment." Yu Chengli turned his hand over and handed over a silver coin.

The officer calmly took it, weighed it, and then said to them: "Don't wait too long!"

Yu Chengli followed Gonzalez to another room. After closing the door, Yu Chengli asked: "What does Boss Gang think of the conditions of the Haihan people? Should he agree to them?"

Gonzalez said: "The big man I met in the morning gave me advice not to choose a single-plank bridge. I think he may be right. We should choose the path that is most beneficial to us."

Which road is Yangguan Avenue and which road is Single Plank Bridge seems to be self-evident under the current situation. They are both shrewd businessmen, and naturally they know which choice is right in the current situation. It is in your best interest.

The decision was made quickly. The two returned to the hall and gave an answer to Officer Haihan. After seeing off the officer, the two were silent for a long time. With their knowledge, they could no longer predict the direction of the next situation, so they could only take one step first. Take a closer look. The only good thing is that at least the Haihan people's business reputation has always been quite good, and the treatment they promised seems to be trustworthy.

There are actually not many foreign businessmen like them who have a certain size of real estate in Hirado, but in the face of the conditions set by Haihan, almost no one chooses to leave on their own or go to Nagasaki. The reason is very simple, refusing to cooperate is

Refuse the protection provided by Haihan. If you refuse even this kind of protection, it would not be surprising if anything happened.

Businessmen can bear economic losses, but they don't dare to gamble their lives on whether Haihan has arranged for someone to kill him. In such a chaotic period, surviving first is more important than anything else, let alone cooperating with Haihan.

There is still a chance to save most of the family property. As for how to manage things after going to Zhoushan, no one is in the mood to think about such far-off things now. In short, we need to leave this ghost place of Hirado first.

Having money makes it easier to do things. This principle applies to all eras, even in Hirado during the war. The richest group of foreign businessmen in Hirado almost all received notification from the Haihan Army at the first opportunity.

Soon after, officers came to the door with temporarily recruited civilian laborers to help these merchants sort out the supplies, pack them and transport them to the port for loading.

"Shi Diwen, your move is really cruel! Not only do you have to drive people away, but you also drag them all back to Zhoushan! Tsk tsk... It's really high!" Qian Tiandun couldn't help but feel after listening to the latest progress report.

I admire this plan planned by Shi Diwen.

Shi Diwen waved his hand and said: "It's no big deal, it's just basic operations! And these foreign businessmen may not really settle down in Zhoushan after arriving in Zhoushan. I estimate that it would be good if one-third to half of them can be retained.

The key is to use this method to achieve a concept. If you don’t want to offend Haihan, you can’t do business with the Hirado Domain.”

"This way, even if Tagawasuke wants to rebuild Hirado in the future, it will be difficult for him to have the same trading status." Qian Tiandun added with understanding.

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "Yes, we just want businessmen from all over the world to know this rule! If the Hirado clan's main source of income is cut off, I don't believe they can still support their armed fleet with their income from farming and fishing!"

Shi Diwen has already made clear arrangements for how to evacuate Hirado. The first step is to transport away the prisoners. Without this special group with the strongest combat effectiveness, the locals will be unable to cause a big mess no matter how much trouble they make during the subsequent forced relocation.

. Then the most wealthy and powerful foreign businessmen were moved out of Hirado. Although the remaining people were large in number, they seriously lacked organization and ability to judge the situation, and operations would be relatively easy.

In the process, it was Shi Diwen's small selfishness to bring businessmen from various countries to Zhoushan. However, no one here competed with him for such resources. Among the several generals, he was the only one who managed one under his name.

Everyone in the colonial area turned a blind eye and treated him as a favor.
Chapter completed!