Send a mission to the Ming Dynasty!

Thirty-six years ago, the shogunate issued the first lockdown decree, followed by four lockdown decrees, and this was the first time in 36 years that the Japanese went to sea.

For Japan, the dispatch of the mission was a bit hasty, but it was extremely efficient, and it took less than 30 days from the decision to the selection of personnel, to the completion of the trip.

Because Japan itself no longer has a large ship suitable for navigation, so it can only take the Ming merchant ship, according to the advice pursued by Nagasaki, the mission and his entourage took the "Shinfuyasu", as a merchant ship, the "Shinfuyasu" is not a passenger ship at all. Although the "New Fu'an" is a three-masted sailing ship that has just been built for four years, it belongs to the general level of ships in Daming. However, because it was not a passenger ship, its living conditions were very ordinary, except for the shogunate who lived in the upper class cabin at the stern, the doctors, the general word is the interpreter, and the officials of the club were all crowded into the starboard middle cabin, and the feudal lords were crowded into the middle of the cabin where the goods were originally stacked, feeling quite embarrassed. "In addition, the rules and regulations on the ship are strict, and after everyone boarded the ship, Nakamura Hampei, the official of the Nagasaki Club, immediately read out the regulations, totaling 14 articles, roughly including restrictions on drinking water, according to the regulations, only one liter of water per person per day, pay attention to fire, prohibit smoking, do not light paper lamps on the ship, do not joke and argue, and do not casually visit other rooms, etc., and even went out of his way to emphasize it." If there is an infringer on the law, they are not allowed to land. The crew members of the Japanese mission were inconvenienced by this.

But the real test was on the sea, on the third day of their departure from Nagasaki, on the sea, they encountered a blizzard, and the hull of the large ship, which had been sailing smoothly, was violently tossed by the waves, but even so, the speed of the ship was still very fast, and between the hull tilting and shaking, the objects on board also fell from time to time, and the members of these missions were all seasick and vomited. By the next day, the wind and snow were getting heavier and heavier, and the wind even set up waves for several feet, and the ship almost turned over, and the wind blew the sails so loudly that it almost broke the mast.

The two days of violent wind and turbidity caused the crew to fall apart, and many of them fainted, but the pride of these feudal warriors was undiminished, and the feudal warriors who set sail had the heart of "Japanese courage and courage", and sent Tang envoys from the past time

Chao Heng and Ji Bei really prepared those envoys to the Tang Dynasty as an example, and they were quite able to overcome all difficulties. Courage to move forward.

However, the blizzard at sea lasted only two days, and for the next few days, the wind was calm and the ship moved slowly. Because of the impoundment of water. The daily ration of one liter per day has been halved. However, the next road was calm, and the ship sailed smoothly into Haizhou Port on the afternoon of October 23.

On this day, when the "Xinfu'an" sailed to Haizhou, the sky was gloomy.

Before noon, the "New Fu'an" slowly came to the most prosperous seaport in Daming - Haizhou Port. Thousands of merchant ships and warships are moored here, filling the strait with Wooju Island. There are countless merchant houses on the land, and the buildings are magnificent and solemn for many years. After witnessing the prosperity of Haizhou, the feudal lords who had never left Japan could not describe the amazing picture in front of them with words and pen and paper, but they couldn't help but exclaim.

"The boat went west, and the boat went southwest, and the river was wide and narrow. At this time, the ship was not far from the port. The number of commercial pavilions from various countries is indescribable. In the south, there are orange forests, as far as the eye can see. The "New Fu'an" anchored for more than ten miles between the ships of the Ming Kingdom. The sea is almost covered with ships. What a sight to see when there are many houses on land......"

Faced with the prosperity of Haizhou Port, in surprise, the Confucian minister Miyake Shosai specially wrote a Chinese poem.

"The sail wall is boundless, how many boats come and go all day long, please see the streets are constantly crowded, and the red dust is connected with people......"

This Han poem describes the prosperity of Haizhou Port, of course, this prosperous port shocked them at the same time, but also made them look forward to the trip to the Ming Dynasty.

However, when they arrived at Haizhou Port, they immediately felt more uncomfortable. Just as they treated the Ming people in Nagasaki, after going ashore, a delegation of 26 people was invited into the "Wanghai Tower", which is the most palatial hotel in Haizhou, and then they were politely left in the hotel, just as they treated the Ming merchants in Nagasaki.

In this regard, even Abe Masano, as the head of the mission, was already prepared, after all, according to the old information, the Ming Kingdom did place the tribute envoys in the past, and they were not allowed to travel on the streets at the beginning.

"Don't be anxious, I believe that soon, the Ming people will allow us to travel in Haizhou, and when they are in Nagasaki, we will not allow them to go out. However, the Ming people are different from us, and the Chinese temperament is great! ”

When Abe was praising his "Chinese bearing", he didn't know that in fact, from the time they arrived in Haizhou, they were treated as if they were being guarded against as thieves.

However, despite this, the Japanese mission that had stayed in the Wanghai Tower for several days always seemed to be in high spirits. Although they couldn't leave Wanghai Tower, because Wanghai Tower was located halfway up the mountain, they could directly enjoy the view of Haizhou City from its balcony, and it seemed that everything in Haizhou City was so exciting in their eyes.

And their arrival also caused a sensation in Haizhou, and even when they went ashore, they once caused people to flock to the port to watch, and even caused "traffic congestion" for a time.

Why?

These people wore the traditional Japanese samurai hair buns, wore kimonos, and wore double swords around their waists. This somewhat unusual dress immediately aroused the dress up of the local gentry in Haizhou, and when they learned that they were the "envoys" from Japan, the local scholars in Haizhou were all very excited. Almost immediately, they thought of the "Tang envoys" in the history books and the friendship that crossed the sea, so they immediately wrote to the Haizhou government and customs, hoping to meet with them.

Although the government initially refused, after repeated requests, and with the consent of the Ministry of Governors, it was finally agreed that several local scholars would contact the Japanese mission under surveillance. In the eyes of those Japanese, it seemed that every scholar who came into contact with them could astonish their talents and learning.

And for those scholars are amazed by their talents, when they humbly ask for advice, they will take the initiative to invite those scholars to the observation deck of Wanghailou to introduce them to Haizhou, although they do not leave home, but they have a basic understanding of many buildings in Haizhou, those buildings that seem to be quite majestic, but also make Japan marvel at every turn, praise these buildings with extremely exaggerated words, can be called "the first in the United States". And at night, when the street lights of Haizhou City are fully lit and the whole of Haizhou becomes a city that never sleeps, all Japanese, including Abe Masano, even have the idea of kneeling down to admire this "galaxy".

In this way, the exaggerated character of the Japanese is catering to the spleen and stomach of the Chinese people, and their compliments are quite useful to the local scholars in Haizhou, and this group of "dwarf winter melons" from Dongying immediately won the favor of the local scholars because of their knowledge.

If it weren't for the frequent interruptions of the communication between them by attendants, I am afraid that these scholars, who had a good impression of them, would have talked to them about the world, newspapers, the Ming Dynasty, and so on.

However, these scholars, who had doubled their favor, did not know what kind of complex psychology these Japanese had in their hearts behind the humble smiles in the mission. When they admired the prosperity of Haizhou City, their mentality was anxious.

"Yaga!"

Almost as soon as he returned to his room and the door closed, Abe Masanoshi scolded angrily.

"These Ming people are so cunning, every time Wang Zhenjun talks to me about the current situation, he will be interrupted by the official waiter, I almost asked for the Dutch ship today!"

Although they ostensibly came to the Ming Dynasty to negotiate on the Hakodate issue, they were tasked with gathering intelligence, and because of this, half of the mission was Nagasaki's Fengshu. They can quietly guide the Ming people to say the information they want to get, but unexpectedly, every time their guidance is artificially interrupted.

"Your Excellency, the lower officials think that those so-called waiters should be the "Wind Talking" of the Ming Kingdom, and even this Wanghai Tower may be the Nagasaki Club, at least similar to its function. ”

As a regular servant of the Nagasaki Club, Nakamura Xianpei had dealt with the Ming people many times, and he felt a bit of a familiar atmosphere in those waiters in Wanghailou.

"Those scholars will tell us what we want if they are induced a little, but those waiters, they are not leaky, and it is very likely that they have always been on guard against us, or else, I am afraid that it would not be so."

"yes......"

Abe was able to walk to the window, and he looked out the window at Haishu, a city that was far more prosperous than Edo in front of him, but he didn't have a chance to look at it.

"Perhaps, Mingguo is not as simple as we think. If you can't see Mingguo with your own eyes, then the purpose of this trip will be all in vain! ”

Abe Masayo thought of the advice of the lord and the elder Sakai Tadashi when he left Edo, no matter what, to investigate the truth of the Ming Dynasty.

What if Daming really has ambitions for Japan?

"Your Excellency, in fact, you can let Ozawa and a few of them escape from Wanghai Tower tonight while the Ming people are unprepared, so that maybe, you can investigate the reality of the Ming Kingdom......

Nakamura Hampei's suggestion made Abe shake his head and say.

"It's not time yet, didn't the Ming officials say? In the next two days, the Ministry of Governors will send officials to welcome us to Haizhou, I don't believe that along the way, they will lock us on the road as they do now? ”