The Matsumae Domain did not have a real Shimiyuroku, and they all relied on business. Their business acumen has long since discovered that something might be going on in the north.

Ezo is so bitterly cold that it does not produce brocade.

However, a few years ago, silk began to appear in Ezo, and it was very fine silk, and these silks were called Ezo Nishiki.

Matsumae Shihiro, the lord of the Matsumae Domain, also offered Ezo Nishiki as a tribute to the shogun.

As for why brocade appears in this place, it is actually very simple.

Or it shouldn't be called appearance, but reproduction.

During the Yongle period, there was a tributary system in Nuer Gandusi, and silk flowed into Heilongjiang, from Heilongjiang to Sakhalin, and from Sakhalin all the way south.

Although it is slow, it is like Shu brocade in the Han Dynasty can appear in Great Xia, as long as there are goods, trade exists.

After the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty and the war in the Central Plains, this tributary system was cut off.

Until the war against Russia many years ago, the Yongning Temple and the mouth of the Heilongjiang River were recaptured, and the indigenous tribes in the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River were allied with Liu Yu by blood, and then they also accepted the canonization of the imperial court.

Every year, mink should be contributed, and the Son of Heaven also needed to return some silk brocade.

As long as there were goods, there was trade, and although the spread was slower, the Ainu traded along Sakhalin, and gradually some brocade reached Fukuyama Castle in the Matsumae domain.

As for what happened in the Tohoku, the people of the Matsumae Domain were slow to react and closed themselves off from the country, which is not known. There is not much interest in knowing.

However, this kind of trade has only benefits, no harm, and I am happy to see it happen. From the workmanship, it can also be known that it must be goods from the Tang Kingdom, but it is not broken up and down.

If the Matsumae Domain broke it, it was likely that it would be banned from trade; The Edo side may know about it, but everyone likes this kind of brocade, and they don't want to ban it just like that.

But at this time, when I heard that people from the Tang Kingdom were building a city in Ezo, they were not thinking about trade, but worrying.

Japan was closed off from the rest of the country, and the Matsumae Domain was the sole monopoly of trade and control over Ezo.

Although the Matsumae clan suffered a loss from the previous battles with the local natives, and temporarily cut off the idea of completely occupying Ezo, they still did not want others to reach out to this place because they had the trade privileges permitted by the shogunate.

The status of merchants was low, but Komatsu had a wide range of wealth but needed merchants to maintain his rule and income.

The Ryohama Group, which was formed by Omi merchants, had a close relationship with the Matsumae Domain, and contributed greatly to the income of the Matsumae Domain.

At this time, Japanese rice could not be grown in Hokkaido, but Hokkaido is one of the four largest fishing grounds in the world and has abundant fishery resources.

These divided Zhixing lands cannot grow grain, but they can fish and do business. Some merchants gave the money to the owners of the fiefdoms, brought in rice from the south, and hired local Ezo people to do the work.

Hunting for a living is definitely not as comfortable as working for others. On the Dashun side, the situation is similar, and many local tribes in Vladivostok and other places have chosen to integrate into the villages and towns to live a settled life.

The pattern here in Hokkaido is pretty much the same.

Relying on the difference in the price of rice and the abundance of fisheries and furs in Hokkaido, the merchants of the Ryohama-gumi were very profitable, and they paid the "tax package" in full.

But if it is handed over to the retainers for administration, it will be a loss for death, the retainers do not have such a level, and the mode of thinking under the agricultural feudal system cannot play with business.

Matsuzen asked the prostrate businessman, "Have you seen the Tang people?" ”

"My lord, it should be a Tang person. Hair ties, and when they traded with the Ezo people, they were also said to be from Dashun. There they sold cloth in exchange for furs. ”

The merchant hastened to answer what he had seen, but he did not dare to get too close to the earthen city to take a closer look, so he ran back to report the news.

Matsuzen knew that this could be serious.

If it's just for business, it's fine.

Send someone to inform you that Japan's national policy, only Korea, the Netherlands, China, and the Ryukyus can trade.

If it is a Chinese ship, it is possible to go to Nagasaki for trade, which is not allowed here.

Of course, they can also be allowed to smuggle secretly.

But I'm afraid that I'm not here to trade, which is very bad.

After carefully asking the merchant about some details, he first asked the merchant to go down, and the retainers gathered together to discuss the matter.

The policy of seclusion was beneficial to the shogunate, but of course it was unfavorable to feudal lords and merchants in various places.

Large merchants who have the ability to have connections can trade in Nagasaki.

Worse still, they could only conduct some trade in Ezo, and they could drink some soup every year with silk and other goods that were rewarded to the frontier tribes under the Dashun tributary system.

A retainer put forward an opinion that deceived the superiors and subordinates.

"The Shogun has issued a decree to lock down the country, and of course the feudal lord must abide by it. However, if the Tang and Ezo people traded, and we received these goods from the Ezo people, and transported the Ezo Nishiki to Edo for sale, the Matsumae Domain did not violate the Lockdown Order. ”

This is clearly a loophole.

Japan is wary of Westerners, but it is not wary of Dashun.

Mainly in the past dynasties, except for the Mengyuan period, the Central Plains Celestial Dynasty seemed to have little desire to expand in the direction of the sea.

Moreover, in the bitter cold land of the north, Dashun wants to expand in a direction, how can he think about occupying the Ezo land?

Regarding this suggestion of deception, Matsuzen Shihiro was noncommittal, and after thinking about it for a while, he felt that it was better to hide this matter for the time being.

If they really are just here to trade, you can allow them to trade quietly, and don't let the shogunate know.

Edo is so far away from here, and it's not impossible to hide a little lie.

Although his Lu rice is only 10,000 stone in name, he has married in the middle of the court, and the relationship is still quite hard. For example, Matsumae Shihiro's wife is the newly sealed Hachijo clan, and she is the niece of the imperial concubine, and a little operation in this matter is also beneficial to the Matsumae Domain.

Still, let's see.

Matsuzen decided to send a few people to find out what these people were here to do.

Hokkaido was not very large, and Fukuyama Castle was only two or three hundred miles away from the settlement of the first batch of Dashun immigrants.

Matsumae Shihiro sent a retainer and brought more than 20 people to check it out. If you can ask them about their intentions, ask them clearly, and if the other party shows hostility, withdraw first and make another calculation.

When the retainers arrived with their people, Tucheng had already grown a little bigger.

The outside is full of earthen walls and wooden fences, and there are protruding edges and corners on all sides.

When the retainers of the Matsumae clan saw it, they sensed that something was wrong, it didn't look like they were doing business.

They were also discovered by the people of the city, who had employees of a trading company and knew Japanese. It was the lieutenant of the Marine Corps who presided over the negotiations, and it was the employees of the trading company who knew Japanese who actually negotiated.

Both sides agreed to meet outside the city, and both carried weapons. The Matsumae clan had arquebuses, and I didn't think there was anything special about these flintlock pistols, they were all muskets.

"You're Tang?"

"Yes. Our ship was caught in a storm and deviated from course, so we had to settle here first. Chop wood, build ships. We built earthen barriers to prevent people from robbing our goods. ”

As soon as he opened his mouth, it was a standard phrase of a colonist, and he always borrowed a little land to rest his feet as the opening remark.

Although this opening line is cliché, it is very effective, and it makes Matsuzen Shihiro's retainers relax a little.

Whether it's true or not, it seems from this opening sentence that there is no malice.

"This is the land of the Matsumae Domain, so you can't stay here. And if you want to come to trade, the general of Zhengyi has a decree to lock the country. For the Kara trade, you have to go to Nagasaki. ”

"It is not permissible to build a city here. Demolish the city as soon as possible. If you want to return to your homeland, you can go to Nagasaki and take a boat back. ”

The employees of the trading company were trained in speech before they arrived, and asked, "Even if we go to Nagasaki, what will happen to our goods?" This is all our wealth, and if we abandon it here like this, we will die of poverty when we go back. In any case, we have to sell all these goods before we can leave. ”

"Please tell the lord of Matsumae and allow us to trade here. We really don't want to go to Nagasaki either, and if possible, I hope that the lord of Matsumae will send us back on your ship. ”

As soon as this proposal was made, the retainer immediately refuted this childish and ridiculous idea.

The lockdown order was not a joke, and it was good for the Matsumae clan to engage in the Ezo trade, but it would be a big crime to ship a ship to send these people out of Japan.

And the retainers of the Matsumae clan quickly discovered the problem.

"If you are in trade, why are there so many of them? Aren't all merchant ships loaded with cargo? ”

At this time, the Japanese ship was not large, and the scale of six or seven hundred people was really a bit terrifying, and they did not dare to imagine it.

"I'm in trade, and some people are in the wilderness. Please tell the lord of Matsumae and we will evacuate as soon as possible. In three years at most, we can build ships and leave. During this period, we were willing to pay a certain amount of taxes, which were paid in silver or silk. ”

"Even I am willing to pay a deposit of three hundred taels of silver. In three years at most, when our ship is built, we will leave here. It's too bitter cold here to grow anything. We don't want to be in this kind of place. ”

"I heard that the land in Japan is divided, and we are willing to pay the upward money to the owner of the Zhixing land here."

It is so sincere, pleading and willing to pay, it seems to be true.

However, the retainers of the Matsumae Domain insisted on letting him go to Fukuyama Castle to meet the lord of the Matsumae Domain, the employee of the trading company, and said in his heart, "It's a fool to go, Lao Tzu can't go, and I don't know if I can come back if I go."

"I don't trust you, but those who are not my race will have different hearts. If you must let me go to Fukuyama Castle, I'd rather die here. Is it okay for you to convey it to the lord of Matsumae Domain? ”

As he spoke, he quietly stuffed some silver, and the bribery was smooth, obviously skilled, and at first glance he was a real businessman.

The retainer also took the money quietly, and after asking some more, he said, "Trade is absolutely not allowed. ”

The merchant hurriedly said, "If we are really not allowed to trade with the locals, then please ask the lord of Matsumae to eat these goods." It's all some in-demand goods. But allow us to fish here to get through this time of shipbuilding. We will also not be associated with the Ezo people during this time. ”

"Or, allow us to lease a small piece of land where we can live. On loan for three years, at most three years after which we leave. ”

The retainers could not make their own decisions, so they said that they would go back to Fukuyama Castle first to ask the head of the family and let these people wait for news.

When he returned to Fukuyama Castle and told Matsumae Shihiro about the situation, Matsumae Shihiro was also a little puzzled and didn't understand what the situation was at all.

It sounds like the whole picture is that some settlers and some merchants have been shipwrecked and have to stay in such a place.

Matsuzen Shihiro didn't know anything about the colonizers' rhetoric, and such deception sounded credible.

This is not Nagasaki, and the retainers have limited income, so after receiving the money, they will naturally say a few good words.

"Your Excellency, they are Tang people, not Catholics. There is no big problem for these people to stay here for the time being. ”

"Those who are not of our race will have different hearts, and they are not willing to come here, and it is understandable that they are wary of us."

"And, as long as they promise not to trade with the Ezo and leave in three years, what's the harm to us?"

"We can ask the merchants of the Ryohama Group to buy their goods and sell them in the south. Let's just say that a Tang boat ran aground in Ezo, and they repaired the boat and left. ”

"And they're willing to pay for a lease of land to live in temporarily. We can give them a small area and not allow them to cross the line. This should be no problem. ”

"People who go to sea are fierce. They carried muskets, and the ships of the Tang people also had cannons, and their cannons were also unloaded. They weren't Ezo people, and if we had to drive them away, some people might die. It's not worth fighting for these people. ”

Matsuzen doesn't care much about the money, but if he can get his hands on it, it would be good. But this matter mainly depends on the attitude of the shogunate.

In recent years, under the reform of Tokugawa Yoshimune, the shogunate has gradually stabilized and has a state of prosperity, and I am afraid that the shogunate will take this opportunity to directly intervene in the affairs of Ezo.

The Matsumae clan didn't want the shogunate to reach out.

It is self-respecting and applies to the state under a centralized system.

In the case of the feudal system, there was no concept of self-respect, only the situation in which the shogunate reached out to seize power after raising the kokou.

It's hard to say what exactly those people are doing here. But since it is said that it is a three-year loan, this is a reasonable solution.

Anyway, it was a bitter cold Ezo land, and it wasn't originally a territory that the Matsumae Domain could govern, but it only had jurisdiction in name.

There's also a big benefit to having a good relationship with these people.

That's Ezo Nishiki Trading.

In the past, he could only trade with the Ezo people, but this time, since there were merchants from the Tang Kingdom, he could secretly tell the merchants of the Tang Kingdom that they could quietly sell brocade here in the future. Then they bought the brocade back from the hands of the Ezo people, or let some merchants quietly participate in the smuggling and go to the south to sell.

The lockdown order is very strict elsewhere, but the Matsumae Domain has a Ezo trade license, so it is much more relaxed here, and a gap can be quietly opened.

Historically, 80 years before the Black Ship Incident, Russia had quietly approached the Matsumae Domain, hoping to obtain a trade license. However, the Russians promoted Orthodox Christianity in Ezo and imposed a fur tax, which seriously offended the interests of the Matsumae domain; The second is that the bulk of Russia's trade is fur, which is in conflict with the trade of the Matsumae Domain in Ezo.

Therefore, the Matsumae clan was extremely opposed to trade with Russia.

But the merchants of Dashun are very different.

These merchants brought brocades, silks, and other goods in demand; Instead, they were replaced with furs and goods, which was beneficial to the Matsumae Domain.

Of course, in the case of smuggling, hundreds of people must not be allowed to build and occupy the city. Now they say that they will be allowed to borrow for three years, sell all the goods to the Matsumae clan first, and never trade with the Ezo people in the future, which is within the allowable range.

It is also a long-term plan to show good relations and wait for the merchant to return in the future, and then talk about smuggling in the future.

"Then let's do it. Let these people pay a thousand taels of silver, or the equivalent of silk, as a rental loan. The rest of the goods will be bought by our merchants. Give them a circle of ten miles, and they cannot leave this range. If they do, they will have to send troops to drive them out. Merchants will report the situation at any time. ”

Thinking that these people might be short of food, Matsuzen Shihiro also intimately instructed: "Tell them that you can provide them with some dried fish, and also allow merchants to sell fish to them." ”