Chapter 421: The Envoy

There was no time to lose in “scouting the thieves.” It was already July, and as summer began, typhoons around the Japanese archipelago increased, and long sea voyages were generally no longer undertaken.

So Yoshinari sent a small, secret mission. The shogunate was very wary of all kinds of southern barbarians, and if they found out that his domain was secretly in contact with the new southern barbarians, it would undoubtedly cause another storm.

A Japanese sailing ship slowly sailed towards Jeju Island against the wind. It was said to be a Japanese sailing ship, but it was actually a Chinese-made Guang boat. Japan’s shipbuilding industry was not very developed at that time, and merchants on long voyages usually bought ships from China or Southeast Asia.

Because the ships were bought in a foreign country, their tonnage was generally not large. This ship had a carrying capacity of only 70 tons and a full displacement of just over a hundred tons. It was a very small ship, only equivalent to a third-class special service boat of the Senate Navy—the smallest class of special service boat.

The sailors of Tsushima were very familiar with the waters around Jeju Island. After the failed invasion of Korea, when So Yoshitoshi withdrew his troops from Busan, he had once taken a detour via Jeju Island to return to his country to avoid pursuit by the Korean navy.

The ship was intercepted by a patrol boat more than ten nautical miles from Jeju Island. At the request of the Ministry of Colonization and Trade, the Second Fleet had set up a blockade in the Tsushima Strait, strictly prohibiting all ships from traveling between Korea and Japan.

The envoy of the Tsushima domain was So Yoshinari’s retainer, Nagafune Genchiro, and a Nagasaki merchant, Takeya Sojo. The Nagafune family was originally a retainer of the Ukita clan. After Ukita Hideie was defeated at the Battle of Sekigahara and exiled, his retainers became ronin and went their separate ways. The young Genchiro, who had no special skills, ended up serving the Tsushima domain after much wandering and had been used as diplomatic cannon fodder ever since. Fortunately, Japan was at peace, and the diplomatic struggles between the daimyo were nothing more than conflicts of interest. They would not make things difficult for the other side’s envoys and cause them to lose their lives. It was just a matter of running errands and getting tired. For a lower-ranking samurai with a stipend of only fifty koku, this was already a good job—at least he didn’t have to pay for his own meals during his service.

Takeya was a distant relative and business agent of the So family. In those days, merchants often also served as diplomats. Takeya Sojo had dealt with Chinese merchants in Nagasaki and could speak some Chinese. According to the repatriated merchants, this group of people who called themselves Australians spoke Chinese, although with a strange accent. He had also heard many things about the Australians and was considered a second-hand “Australia expert,” so he was invited to help.

This mission was also what Takeya wanted. In any case, Australian goods were also very popular in Nagasaki. At present, only a small amount of Australian goods were sold to Japan, mainly concentrated in luxury goods, and the prices were very expensive. And almost all of them were controlled by those Chinese merchants.

With few and popular goods, it was naturally not Takeya’s turn to distribute them. Takeya could only be considered a medium-sized merchant in Nagasaki and had a low status in the Nagasaki business circle. He couldn’t even import goods directly from Guangzhou. He had no connections in the shogunate and couldn’t get a red-seal permit to go to Guangzhou. Fortunately, he still had a ship and often used his relationship with the So family to secretly travel to Korea to sell some goods. Fortune favors the bold. This time, he took the initiative to volunteer, providing his men, ship, and funds to prepare a batch of tribute gifts, and took on the task of seeking peace in Jeju. Of course, the official envoy was still Nagafune Genchiro.

When Takeya was summoned by So Yoshinari, he gave a vivid account of the Australian stories he had heard: the great victory over the Ming army in Qiongzhou, the iron ships bombarding the White Swan Pool, and all kinds of “Australian goods.” In addition, the merchants who were released back had exaggerated their complaints about how fast the “four-pointed star flag ships” that hijacked them were, and how their guns and cannons were like a forest… although they were actually just some special service boats and patrol boats. All this had left the Tsushima domain with the impression that the Australians were no less than the southern barbarians.

This mythical performance naturally had many who did not believe it, thinking it was too exaggerated. However, when the envoy’s ship approached Chaotianpu, the row of H800s anchored in the harbor, their light black, huge bodies gently swaying in the waves, greatly shocked the mission.

Among the Chinese merchant ships going to Japan, there were quite a few large ships with a deadweight of more than 500 tons and a full displacement of nearly 1,000 tons. However, they were still a little small compared to the H800, which had a full displacement of 1,400 tons, a huge mast, and a beautiful hull shape, comparable to the large southern barbarian ships of the Portuguese or Dutch.

Takeya had been a merchant in Nagasaki for a long time and was a very knowledgeable person in Japan. He had seen all kinds of Chinese sea ships and large southern barbarian ships.

In terms of tonnage, the H800 was not larger than other sea ships, but a whole row of such large ships anchored together had a much stronger visual impact than one or two isolated large sea ships. In Nagasaki harbor, whether it was Chinese sea merchants’ ships or southern barbarian ships, only one or two would come at a time.

Around these large ships, there were also many smaller ships anchored. Even these ships were much larger than their own ship—even larger than most of the ships they had seen.

This large-scale gathering of ships was not to show off military power, but because the Second Fleet and the transport fleet were waiting in Jeju for the last voyage before the start of summer. With the arrival of summer and the typhoon season, maritime shipping would come to a halt. Most ships, including all steam warships and H800s, would return to their respective home ports. According to the order of the Naval Command, all steam warships would return to Lingao for maintenance, the H800s would return to Hong Kong for maintenance, and other sailing ships would undergo maintenance and overhaul in Jeju, Kaohsiung, and Hong Kong depending on the situation.

The navy’s large-scale “summer break” was not only to avoid typhoons but also to rest the troops.

The continuous intensive shipping and escort missions for more than half a year had shown signs of fatigue in the navy’s ships and personnel. The performance of the steam-powered ships was not very stable to begin with, and there had been several accidents, so they were in urgent need of factory maintenance. The fatigue of the personnel had also reached its limit. Due to the lack of reserve personnel, the sailors were all overworked.

The mission on the deck was suddenly silent. Such a group of “pirates” or “southern barbarians” were by no means good people. Just the force with which they directly occupied Jeju Island was probably not something that ordinary southern barbarian merchants and pirates could do.

Ping Qiusheng did not know that there was a second-hand “Australia expert” among the envoys. But no matter who the other party was, he would naturally give them the cold shoulder for the first day or two. He arranged for them to stay at the Chaotianpu post house. The room was, as usual, decorated with Ausong propaganda posters: half were paintings by Leib Trini and his students, depicting the architecture and scenery of Lingao, the majestic Fubo Army, ships in the style of Hayao Nogami’s ship collection, and epic battle scenes—mostly retouched PS images of Warhammer 40K from some Senator’s private collection. Of course, some things from their original world were also mixed in… In short, he would shock them first and then talk.

On the morning of the third day, Ping Qiusheng summoned the Tsushima envoy at the Chaotianpu trading post.

“I am Nagafune Genchiro Hyoe, the envoy of the Tsushima domain. By order of my lord, I command you…”

Ping Qiusheng’s face was expressionless, his mind rapidly recalling the lessons he had reviewed last night about the So family of Tsushima…

The Tsushima domain was not large, but its retainer group was not small. After the decline of their former master, the Shoni clan, the entire retainer group fled to Tsushima. Konishi Yukinaga, the father-in-law of the previous head of the clan, had his head chopped off, and another group of wandering retainers came. Then there were those who had drifted here on their own… like the Nagafune Genchiro family.

With many retainers, there were too many people to feed from the public purse. This was not the main problem. Because of their complex origins and the fact that there were too many monks for too little porridge, there were inevitably multiple factions, all vying for power and profit.

Because So Yoshinari was dissatisfied with the power of the elders like Yanagawa and Susa, he intentionally supported the rootless, outside retainers. Only then did Genchiro manage to get a stipend of fifty koku a year. He lived in a longhouse in the castle town and had to serve the public. His life was very hard, not much better than an ashigaru. According to the laws of the shogunate, samurai could not work, nor did they have land. He had to rely on his wife to take care of the children of merchants to supplement the family income. This time, as the official envoy, his entire outfit was borrowed from his master.

However, the Nagafune family had, after all, served a big shot. Their arrogance was absolute. Genchiro’s two older brothers had both committed seppuku while playing tough during negotiations. He himself had become a retainer only because he was dared to fight and could bluff.

“Do you know your crime!” Ping Qiusheng finished listening to his lengthy speech, his face fell, and he thought to himself, “You bastard, I’m even more ruthless than you.”

“I am the Grand Minister of the Court of Imperial Treasury and the Coastal Commissioner, the Superintendent of the Jeju City Shipping Office, dispatched by the upper kingdom. Your master is only a junior fourth-rank attendant. How dare you send someone here to be so insolent! Is your master sending you here to declare war? Then I will order the navy to immediately seize your ships, and tomorrow the fleet will set off to bombard the wakan! We will level Tsushima! We will blockade Nagasaki!”

“My lords, please calm down and listen to me,” Takeya Sojo was so anxious that he almost jumped up. If those “Australian black ships” really sailed to Nagasaki, Edo would surely be shaken, and the relevant people would be lucky to get away with just committing seppuku.

“We did not come here to condemn you,” Takeya said tactfully. “The trade between our domain and Korea has a long history, and we have not done anything to provoke the Australians. I do not know why you have occupied Jeju Island and intercepted our ships…”

“This Jeju Island is the territory of our Great Song. When the false Yuan was destroyed by the false Ming, it was usurped by the Korean barbarians. Today, our Ausong has recovered our old territory. Do you have anything to say!?”

“The old matters have nothing to do with our Japan. We are not in a position to comment on the rights and wrongs. But this ship belongs to our domain…”

“Your Tsushima domain is a vassal of both Japan and Korea. Our empire has no intention of conquering Japan at present. Does your master want to be a Korean or a Japanese?”

“Tsushima is a Japanese domain. Our vassalage to Korea is a matter of expediency. My master does not wish to go to war with your esteemed department. Moreover, since the time of our divine country’s Lord Ieyasu, all the great lords have taken the peace of the world as their own responsibility and restrained the various daimyo from starting external conflicts.” Takeya knew that his opponent was powerful and that playing tough was meaningless. Only by showing his full “love of peace” would it work.