Chapter 1174 - The Agreement

"Speaking of which, you mention the Shogun of Edo. There's something I'd like to ask, if you could enlighten me."

Sensing the atmosphere beginning to ease, both envoys breathed a quiet sigh of relief. But masters of dark diplomacy always struck at precisely such moments:

"Should I address him as 'Shogun of Japan' or 'King of Japan'?"

"Since Lord Hideyoshi refused the title King of Japan, those who rule Japan have been called Shogun."

"Very well." Ping Qiusheng produced a document folder. "Take a look at this. And yet on Shogun Hidetada's state letter, he used the seal of 'King of Japan.'"

When Japan and Korea made peace in 1607, the Tsushima domain had been entrusted by Tokugawa Ieyasu to request that Korea dispatch envoys. The Korean side demanded that Japan submit a formal state letter and extradite the criminals who had desecrated the royal tombs. Sō Yoshitoshi, along with senior councilor Yanagawa Shigeoki and the monk Genso, forged a state letter, then randomly seized some criminals, rendered them mute, and sent them over. The Koreans knew perfectly well the other side was fabricating—yet still dispatched a "Reply and Repatriation Mission," and bilateral relations were restored. But one lie inevitably requires a thousand more to sustain it.

Since the shogunate hadn't actually submitted a state letter, when the Korean side responded with one, it placed Sō Yoshitoshi in an awkward position once more. Thus the Sō clan trio also altered the Korean letter. Ieyasu, unaware that the Korean missive was a response to a nonexistent original, then sent another reply to Korea—which the Sō trio likewise doctored... And so it continued, back and forth. The Sō clan trio altered more than a dozen state letters, until they all died and their successors inherited this glorious tradition and perpetuated the forgery enterprise—until 1634, when Yanagawa Tadaoki stirred up trouble and exposed the entire affair. After considerable deliberation, Shogun Iemitsu once again pardoned the Sō clan while ordering the Yanagawa clan into exile. Only after this resolution did the two nations' rulers finally exchange authentic state letters.

This was the famous "Yanagawa Incident" in East Asian diplomatic history. Such events, which appear absurd by modern standards, were hardly uncommon in East Asia at the time. For the sake of "face," "orthodoxy," and "national dignity," the three nations of East Asia had produced no shortage of such farces. Similar incidents involving fraudulent envoys and forged state letters had occurred between China and Japan during the Wanli Korean Campaign. Information traveled slowly in those days, and news between nations moved at a glacial pace. Those fluent in foreign languages were few, so even rulers depended on a tiny cadre of individuals for diplomatic communications—leaving ample opportunity for fraud.

Before D-Day, Yu Eshui had specifically searched Japanese and Korean digital libraries for PDF scans of numerous forged state letters. In this timeline, Yanagawa hadn't yet made his exposé... The two envoys before him were now sweating profusely.

Though both Nagafune and Takeya had heard whispered rumors at drinking parties, they had never seen proof. Now these Australians of mysterious origin were laying what appeared to be exact copies of the originals on the table.

In truth, both sides were thinking of the same person—the third-generation Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Tokugawa Iemitsu had been given the childhood name "Takechiyo" at birth—the hereditary name of Tokugawa heirs. Before Ieyasu's death, he had specifically arranged for the second Shogun Hidetada to retire, allowing Iemitsu to succeed as third Shogun. This demonstrated the Great Lord's lofty expectations for his grandson.

And Iemitsu proved worthy of that faith. He was practically the personification of Japanese clan politics, inheriting the Tokugawa family's cunning and caution, the stubbornness and conservatism of his mother's Azai lineage, and the domineering decisiveness of his maternal grandfather Oda's line... In short, he was a formidable figure capable of making all the realm's daimyō tremble and submit. Tokugawa "rule by force" reached its zenith under his hand. Not only did he add numerous articles to the Laws for Warrior Houses, but he enforced them mercilessly. Many daimyō who had been renowned during the Warring States period saw their domains stripped under his rule for various "violations." Whether collateral branches, hereditary vassals, or outside lords—none dared challenge the shogunate's authority.

At this point in history, Tokugawa Iemitsu hadn't yet built his later fearsome reputation. But since the death of Second Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada in January 1632—when Iemitsu officially assumed direct control with full authority—he had already begun demonstrating the qualities of a strongman.

The crucial difference between the two sides was this: for the Tsushima domain, the Shogun was an existence whose single word could decide the fate of themselves, their families, and even their lord. For the Lingao side, however, Iemitsu was merely one of several opponents with relatively stable governance—at most, a question of how to bring him to heel at minimum cost.

After flipping through just a few pages of the documents, Nagafune Genshichirō-hyōe and Takeya were sweating like men caught in a monsoon. Since this group calling themselves Australians could produce copies—or whatever these were—of the old incriminating evidence, they naturally possessed the means to place them before the Shogun. The consequences would be catastrophic. Nagafune and Takeya, as directly implicated parties—never mind the Shogun or their lord—couldn't even afford to offend councilors like Yanagawa or Susa. Not only would their deaths be meaningless, but their reputations for loyalty and righteousness would be shattered. Once this came to light, the domain would certainly face dissolution, and the implicated senior retainers would almost certainly have to commit seppuku. The Nagafune family would become sinners of the Tsushima domain, and even if they somehow survived, they would spend the remainder of their lives being hunted.

The only option now was to determine what price must be paid. The opposing side was clearly displaying their cards not to destroy the Tsushima domain outright.

Genshichirō prostrated himself: "Please, Your Excellency, give us clear instructions!"

"Our Great Song only befriends men of loyalty and righteousness. Can the two of you be called men of loyalty and righteousness?" Seeing both envoys sweating like rain and trembling like chaff, Ping Qiusheng extended a lifeline.

"We have been loyal for generations!"

"Since you are men of loyalty and righteousness, our Great Australian Song is willing to make a three-article covenant with your house..."

What followed was naturally trade agreement negotiations. The agreement contained three principal provisions:

First, following the precedent of Japan and Korea, Tsushima would acknowledge vassalage to Australian Song. The Senate would enfeoff the Sō clan as Vice Commissioner of the Tsushima Regiment. The Sō clan would additionally be appointed as Communications Commissioner between Lingao and the Edo shogunate, tasked with finding means to establish trade relations with Edo.

Second, Jeju and Tsushima would mutually open ports. Merchant vessels of both sides could freely enter and exit with proper credentials and would enjoy most-favored treatment.

Third, both sides would establish consulates to handle customs and trade quotas. The Tsushima domain would dispatch a younger son to reside at the Jeju consulate—essentially a hostage. Business operations would be handled by Takeya. Australian Song could establish a trade consulate in Tsushima, and Takeya would also station specialized personnel at his Nagasaki office—this final point had been specifically requested by the Intelligence Bureau.

The treaty's appendix placed few restrictions on Japanese exports: aside from prohibiting the import of Japanese swords, all other goods were permitted. Generally speaking, Japan at this time could export relatively few commodities: mainly Japanese swords, fans, gold, silver, copper, maritime products (dried seafood), and silk textiles. Except for Japanese swords, all of these were useful to the Senate—at minimum they could be re-exported. To encourage Japanese exports, the treaty specifically noted that the Japanese side could sell timber—though for an island domain like Tsushima that possessed no forests of its own, the costs of logging in the main islands and transshipping for export would likely eliminate any profit margin.

After Takeya examined the product samples Ping Qiusheng displayed, he was deeply shaken. Forty years earlier, the Sakai merchant Naya Sukezaemon—later known as "Luzon Sukezaemon" after he smuggled Murakawa Hidetsugi to Southeast Asia—had smuggled a batch of celadon from Quanzhou and presented several pieces to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, fabricating a story that they were "Luzon ware." Hideyoshi had never beheld such fine vessels and rewarded him with over 100,000 koku, then together with the master tea practitioner Rikyū sold "Luzon tea bowls," extracting enormous profits from the realm's daimyō. When Hideyoshi died, the merchant had to flee to Cambodia. Now the Australians possessed not only fine celadon but also bone china as white as jade, along with various glassware as clear as crystal—all priced quite affordably by Japanese standards. Reselling would yield profits of ten or a hundredfold!

Especially striking were the complete sets of glass and porcelain tea services, divided into Great Ming style and Australian Song style—the latter being English-style black tea services and oolong tea sets from the old timeline. Naturally there were also Japanese tea ceremony vessels in their distinctive shapes and glazes.

As for bulk consumer goods, there were fabrics of various qualities—likewise major Japanese imports of the period. Shogunate regulations permitted commoners to wear only cotton and hemp, but Japan's own cotton production—whether tree cotton or herbaceous cotton—was insufficient. Every year they had to import cotton cloth from the Great Ming and Korea. Korean cotton cloth in particular was a major item in Japan-Korea trade, given Japan's substantial textile demand.

Though the Senate hadn't yet constructed its own cotton spinning mills, the East India Company shipped large quantities of cheap cotton cloth from India. Songjiang Prefecture in the Great Ming was renowned for "clothing the realm." Hainan and Guangdong were traditional kapok-producing regions with considerable amounts of household-woven cotton cloth. Whatever the Japanese wanted could be supplied—at price-performance ratios far superior to Korean goods.

As for other miscellaneous samples—the small hardware items and machine-made farm tools especially amazed the Sō clan envoys. Though individually of modest value, these were perpetual hot sellers on the market, able to move as quickly as they could be supplied. Moreover, the iron quality of these Australian products was visibly superior.

(End of Chapter)