GBP Chapter 330 Getting the Japanese to Work for the Qiongzhou Camp
Chapter 330 Getting the Japanese to Work for the Qiongzhou Camp
The story didn't end with the broken legs of over a hundred merchants from the Ming Dynasty. Similar scenes played out for three consecutive days at the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office, with more and more merchants having their legs broken, and the town magistrate Amazaki Hyosuke's face growing paler and paler.
The situation seemed to be escalating rapidly. Not only did the number of merchants trading at the magistrate's office decrease dramatically, but many townspeople were also privately discussing how the Ming Dynasty's shogun was acting so recklessly on Hizen Domain's territory, and how the Nabeshima family, as the lord of the domain, was losing face by not intervening. These discussions also reached Amagasaki Hyosuke's ears, and he finally couldn't sit still any longer, so he went to see his superior, the town magistrate Nabeshima Yoshishige.
Nabeshima Yoshishige is a collateral branch of the feudal lord's lineage. Although he has little ability, he rose to the position of town magistrate through nepotism. However, he has access to the highest levels of government and can report directly to senior figures or even the feudal lord himself. Amagasaki Hyosuke doesn't know how to handle this incident and can only turn to his superiors when necessary.
When Amagasaki Hyosuke found his superior, Nabeshima Yoshishige was drinking alone at home, looking somewhat drunk. Upon seeing Hyosuke, Nabeshima greeted him, "Hyosuke's here? Come on, keep me company while I drink..."
Amazaki Hyosuke knelt on the tatami mat and said anxiously, "How can Lord Nabeshima still be in the mood for drinking? That Ming Dynasty adjutant has already caused chaos in the magistrate's office. We can't just let him continue like this, can we?"
Nabeshima Yoshishige, his eyes glazed with drunkenness, glanced at him sideways, chuckled, and pointed at him with his finger, saying, "You think the higher-ups don't know about this? On the very day it happened, a Ming Dynasty merchant used his connections to report it to Ito Yoshisuke, the chief retainer, asking him to intervene and stop this 'madman'..."
Amagasaki Hyosuke exclaimed in surprise, "Even Ito Yoshisuke, the chief retainer, has been alerted?" Ito Yoshisuke was the most senior and trusted chief retainer of the Hizen Domain, and Nagasaki, as the most important source of income for the Hizen Domain, was directly under his jurisdiction. He was a hatamoto samurai with a koku of rice (approximately 10,000 koku), qualified to have an audience with the shogun, and was second only to the shogun in the Hizen Domain, holding a high position and wielding immense power.
Nabeshima Yoshishige shook his head and continued, "When Ito Yoshisuke learned of this, he only said one sentence: As a strongman who was able to defeat Zheng Zhilong, as long as his actions did not endanger the rule of the Hizen Domain, we will not interfere with whatever he does. Besides, he is dealing with merchants from the Ming Dynasty, which has nothing to do with us. These goods will eventually be traded in Nagasaki, and we will not suffer any losses."
Amazaki Hyosuke seemed to understand something. Since the higher-ups were also going to pretend to be deaf and dumb, he knew what to do.
Ming Dynasty merchants found themselves in a trap set by the Qiongzhou military camp, facing not only broken legs but also the loss of all their cargo. Unable to defeat the heavily armed soldiers, and having been turned away by the Hizen Domain, they were at a loss. Those merchants who arrived two days later, upon learning of the situation, lingered at sea, afraid to go ashore to trade, thus avoiding the pain of broken legs. However, this stalemate was not a solution; the captains and crew still needed to be paid, and the cargo could not be returned—the losses were too great.
On the fifth day, these merchants finally couldn't hold on any longer and sent representatives to negotiate with the Qiongzhou camp, proposing that they were willing to pay taxes according to the standard, only asking to be allowed to sell their goods.
"No way!" Liu Ye refused decisively upon hearing the news. "Rules are rules. Taxes can only be paid in Bofu or Tainan. Here, it's not as simple as just paying back taxes. Breaking the rules must be punished. Tell them that all the goods are confiscated, no discussion. However, as compensation for their voluntary admission of wrongdoing, the ship can be returned, their legs don't need to be broken, and those with a good attitude can even receive a sum of silver to subsidize their round-trip transportation costs. Don't even think about returning to the Ming Dynasty. Our patrol fleet is currently focusing on patrolling the Songjiang Prefecture area. Once caught, the ship and cargo will be lost, and all your investment will be wiped out."
Liu Ye's bottom line reached the ears of these maritime merchants. After some deliberation, they split into two factions. One faction obediently entered the port as required, unloaded their goods, received a freight payment, and returned to port, also receiving a cargo manifest receipt issued in the name of the Qiongzhou Camp Tiannan Trading Company. The other faction turned back to Jiangnan, intending to sell the goods at a low price to others and minimize their losses. Different choices led to different fates. The former lost their goods and suffered considerable losses, but kept their ships and received a freight payment subsidy; the latter were intercepted by Lin Chuanzong's fleet at the mouth of the Songjiang Prefecture, and their ships and goods were confiscated, leaving them penniless.
On the seventh day after the Qiongzhou garrison moved into the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office, almost no merchants came or went; the place was deserted. This was partly because the merchants were terrified, and partly because the Ming Dynasty merchants had already been almost completely wiped out.
Li Fu excitedly reported the results of the battle at Liu Ye's residence: "The confiscated goods have all been sold at the magistrate's office, and the payments have been settled. In addition, the confiscated Fujian ships were resold locally. Together, we have earned more than 3.6 million taels of silver!"
Liu Ye simply grunted in response, showing no particular delight. He wasn't more concerned with how much money he would make this time, but rather with something else entirely.
He asked leisurely, "Li Fu, tell me, with all this commotion, it's understandable that the Shogunate is far away and the emperor doesn't care, but why hasn't the Hizen Domain reacted at all? We came here to set the rules, coming in with great momentum, but our opponents haven't uttered a single word. It's like we've punched cotton..."
Li Fu was also puzzled, and after pondering for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out: "This, I don't know either... But, the Japanese don't dare to stop us from doing anything, isn't that a good thing?"
Liu Ye shook his head: "This time I brought a large number of warships to Nagasaki and successfully got things done, but what will happen after the fleet leaves? Merchants are driven by profit, and some will always try to evade taxes. The patrolling fleet cannot guarantee that it will stop all merchant ships. As long as someone successfully evades taxes, the news will spread, and more people will take the risk, resulting in a huge loss of tax revenue. I can't possibly come to Nagasaki to arrest people every few days, can I?"
"What do you mean, General?"
“Tax collection is not a matter of one or two days. This is one of the most important sources of income for the Qiongzhou Camp in the future. We cannot afford any mistakes. We must have a long-term and effective set of rules to regulate these maritime merchants,” Liu Ye said. “Although we have set up a trading post in Nagasaki, it is only used for trading and cannot be used for tax inspection. The matter of tax inspection must be left to the Japanese.”
"What?" Li Fu's mouth dropped open. "Let the Japanese investigate our taxes?"