Chapter 420: The Tsushima Domain

Ping Qiusheng envisioned that ships returning from Japan could first sail to Jeju Island, load up on Korean ginseng, and then return to Shanghai. After selling the goods in Shanghai, they would load up on local cloth, silk, and daily necessities, and then transport them to Japan for sale.

However, whether things would work out as he imagined still had to be proven in practice. In particular, the most crucial part of the trade with Japan, the Shanghai side, still heavily relied on Zhao Yingong’s work. After all, he was responsible for organizing the ships, sources of goods, and docks. Before his departure, he had already written a long letter on this issue and had it sent to the Hangzhou station by a special messenger.

Although he didn’t have much of a personal relationship with Old Zhao, he figured that Old Zhao wouldn’t pass up such an opportunity to earn merit.

However, Ping Qiusheng couldn’t wait for Old Zhao’s work to be done. He decided to temporarily put his Goto Islands strategy on hold and start with the most convenient Tsushima route.

The So clan on Tsushima Island, situated between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula, had a nominal national income of 100,000 koku. However, in reality, Tsushima was small and barren, and even with its exclaves, its grain production was less than 20,000 koku. A large part of this so-called 100,000 koku was actually the economic income from trade with Korea.

Throughout the Tokugawa period, although Japan pursued a policy of seclusion and only opened the port of Nagasaki, the province of Tsushima was always allowed to trade with Korea and Qing China. This trade channel was theoretically unrelated to the shogunate and had few restrictions. It was a convenient channel that could be used immediately.

The So clan was a survivor in the history of Japan’s Warring States period. During Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea, the head of the So clan, So Yoshitoshi, and his father-in-law, Konishi Yukinaga, played a double game. They were undeniably responsible for Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea, the failure of the first peace talks, and the second invasion. However, because Toyotomi Hideyoshi died of illness, they escaped punishment.

At the Battle of Sekigahara, the So clan joined the Western Army along with Konishi Yukinaga. Neither the Toyotomi generals who had sided with the Tokugawa, nor their own allies, Ishida Mitsunari and the various daimyo of the western provinces, had a good opinion of the So clan. When the Western Army was defeated and Ishida and Konishi were beheaded, So Yoshitoshi was pardoned by Tokugawa Ieyasu. After the Siege of Osaka, he was promised that his domain would not be reduced or changed. He was much luckier than the likes of Kobayakawa Hideaki.

Of course, in a sense, the So clan’s good luck might also be related to the insignificance of their domain. To the rulers and powerful daimyo on the four main islands of Japan, Tsushima was just a barren island far from the mainland. Just as the daimyo of Hokkaido, as long as they kowtowed and showed their loyalty in a timely manner, no shogun would ever think of dealing with them.

However, some work was still needed to make Tsushima submit. Historically, after Japan’s failed invasion of Korea, the So clan had secretly made peace with Korea, which was originally an act of high treason. However, with the collapse of the Toyotomi regime, the Tokugawa clan came to power. Tokugawa Ieyasu had not participated in the invasion of Korea and was not enthusiastic about it, so the So clan’s peace-making became a merit.

In 1607, the Tsushima domain and Korea signed another trade agreement. The relationship between Tsushima and Korea was quite good. The Tsushima domain was a vassal to the Joseon Dynasty, so it was also considered a vassal state of the Joseon Dynasty. Therefore, it was able to have a wakan (Japanese settlement) in the three southern ports of the Korean peninsula, which was also in seclusion. The trade between the two sides was very frequent.

Ping Qiusheng knew that this trade was actually one-sided. Korean merchant groups generally did not send ships to Japan. It was mainly merchants from Tsushima who sent ships to Korea for trade. Therefore, it was not possible to rely on Korean ships.

Furthermore, the Japan-Korea trade, apart from Chinese goods re-exported from Korea, consisted of Korean handicrafts, medicinal materials, and furs. These were not the main products of Jeju, so Tsushima ships would not go to Jeju for years.

If he were to wait for Japanese merchant ships to visit Jeju, he would have to wait for years.

The first thing to do was to get the Tsushima ships to come. Anyway, with the current power of the Ausong in the Yellow Sea, it was a matter of a thought whether to let someone’s ship come or not.

So, before Ping Qiusheng set out, Si Kaide went to the Navy Department and requested them to order the Jeju Island squadron to intercept the trade ships sent by Tsushima to Korea in batches and seize the ships. The order specifically instructed them to release the captured Tsushima merchants and So clan retainers, and to treat the ordinary crew and passengers with leniency if they laid down their arms, and to ensure the safety of the ships and goods as much as possible. The ships and goods were to be detained in Jeju Island pending disposal.

Inspecting and detaining ships was a basic skill of the navy, so by the time Ping Qiusheng arrived in Jeju, the So clan had already had three or four ships seized. By now, the entire Tsushima domain should know that a large group of pirates was intercepting their ships.

As the largest source of income for the domain, it was impossible for them not to solve this matter. Both Si Kaide and Ping Qiusheng were very sure of this.

After Ping Qiusheng arrived, he went through the usual pleasantries with the military and political Senators on the island. Feng Zongze knew that Senator Ping was here to start the Japan-Korea trade and was very enthusiastic towards him. If this plan succeeded, Jeju Island would become an important trade node. Not to mention the benefits it would bring, just the establishment of processing industries locally to process export products would make him laugh in his dreams. It would be better than being criticized by a bunch of Senators for his pathetic archery industry.

At the dinner table, he decided to give him three rooms in the newly built customs building in Chaotianpu. After all, there would only be customs duties if there was trade. He then patted his chest and said that he would provide whatever he needed, whether it was manpower or resources. In short, the Jeju Island Front Committee would unconditionally support this trade action.

Ping Qiusheng moved in with his men and luggage, and the Japan-Korea Trade Working Group was thus quietly established. He did nothing now but wait for the people of the So clan to come to him. Losing several large ships was no small matter for the So clan, not to mention that the trade with Korea was the lifeline of the So clan’s economy.

Without overseas trade, the finances of a poor domain like Tsushima would have long been ruined by the shogunate’s two major policies of “sankin-kotai” (alternate attendance) and “tetsudai-fushin” (public works). The first three shoguns of the Tokugawa shogunate were known for their strict laws, which were known as “budan seiji” (military rule). This policy reached its peak during the Iemitsu era. The shogunate frequently reduced or changed the domains of daimyo and small daimyo, eliminating many domains. Although the So clan had received a promise from the Tokugawa shogunate that their domain would never be changed, if news of their shipping routes being cut off by “Japanese pirates” or other pirates reached Edo, the newly enthroned third shogun might directly change their domain. Even if he didn’t, this excuse could be used to make him commit seppuku, and then send his retainers to “assist the young lord.”

But to attack Jeju Island with the strength of Tsushima alone was impossible. Besides, there was no just cause for a military solution. After all, Jeju Island was the territory of the Joseon Dynasty, and it was not his place, as a nominal “outer domain,” to attack it. He was afraid that before the pirates were dealt with, the relationship with the Joseon Dynasty would be ruined.

Since war was not an option, the attitude of the Tsushima Fuchu domain towards the armed group of unknown origin that occupied Jeju Island naturally became very hesitant. The chief elder, Yanagawa Shigeoki, who represented the elder faction, controlled the entire diplomatic situation of Japan with the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He was a vested interest in the Japan-Korea trade and naturally did not want to cause trouble. He advocated ignoring the forces on Jeju Island to avoid provoking the Joseon Dynasty.

The head of the clan, So Yoshinari, was less than 30 years old at this time. At the same time, the So clan was nominally also an outer domain of Korea, which was the legal basis for the So clan to dispatch officials to govern the wakan in Busan. Naturally, he was also more inclined to the pro-Korea faction.

However, ignoring the problem could not solve it, especially since this group of pirates had already blockaded the shipping route. Even if the seized ships and goods were abandoned, should they continue to send ships to Korea?

The Ministry of Colonization and Trade and the Great Library had done their homework in advance and understood the little schemes of the Tsushima domain. They adopted a strategy of using force first and diplomacy later—first intercepting and detaining the Tsushima ships and blockading the shipping route to Japan. This would leave the wakan in Korea isolated overseas. The wakan was just a small market, with no agriculture. If trade was cut off, the Japanese would have no means of livelihood, and a riot would be another difficult matter to handle.

More than 100 years ago, the Joseon Dynasty had once closed the three wakan ports to prevent Japanese pirates, which led to a wakan rebellion. Thanks to the full support of the So clan’s troops, the people of the wakan were saved from being wiped out. Although the So clan was a weakling in the Warring States period of Japan, they were much stronger than the Joseon Dynasty, which was a weakling with a combat power of five. The Joseon Dynasty could not sustain a long-term conflict and soon reopened trade with Japan. However, the current So clan did not have this confidence. After several wars in the 16th century, the able-bodied men of the Tsushima domain were almost completely lost.

In the 16th century, the So clan was repeatedly involved in the chaotic wars of its master and ally, the Shoni clan, in Kyushu and the Chugoku region, and suffered considerable losses. In the end, the Shoni clan fell, and the So clan’s own exclaves in the mainland were also mostly lost.

Before Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea, he ordered So Yoshitoshi to negotiate with the Joseon Dynasty to “borrow a path to attack the Ming.” In the end, the negotiations failed, and there were many acts of deception and fraud, which were exposed. To show his loyalty, So Yoshitoshi mobilized all the men in Tsushima between the ages of 16 and 53 and cobbled together an army of 5,000 to land with Kato Kiyomasa and Konishi Yukinaga during the first invasion of Korea. However, like the other wars the So clan participated in, the fishermen of Tsushima suffered heavy losses on land, with more defeats than victories. By the second invasion of Korea, the So clan could only scrape together about 1,000 men.

Now, with the strength of the So clan, it was naturally impossible to launch an offensive war independently. Moreover, the returning retainers and merchants had already exaggerated how terrible the “big black ships,” “big cannons” (artillery), and iron cannons of this group of pirates were, so much so that the So clan was very suspicious that the other party was some new kind of southern barbarian and not just simple pirates.

The So clan, as a small daimyo, relied on the Japan-Korea channel for their livelihood. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have to pay attention to the Australians. As a result, although they were reluctant, after some discussion, they finally decided to send a “thief-scouting envoy” to Jeju to negotiate, just as Korea had sent a “thief-scouting envoy” to Tsushima to test the waters for peace talks. As long as the heroes on Jeju, whoever they were, could release the ships and lift the blockade, everything else was negotiable.