Yue Chugo, Iwase Minato.

Iwase Minato is one of the famous Sanminato Seven Towns.

In the entire Hokuriku Province, there are Honyoshiminato in Kaga Province, Wajima Minato in Noto Province, Iwase Minato in Etsuchugo, and Imamachiminato, also known as Naoetsu in Echigo Province.

Li Xiaozi conquered Viet Chung, occupied Iwase Minato, opened up trade with the Portuguese, and allowed the Portuguese to settle here and preach religion.

Iwase Minato has taken on a new look.

With the sun spewing mist, the sea is sparkling.

Inside the breakwater of the harbor, large and small ships are docked.

Many of the people on the boat, wearing white cloth straps and short shoulders, have lit fires on the boat, and the smoke of the cooking is rising, ready to start the day.

In the boat house on the side, many early risers were dressing up on the waterfront.

From time to time, there are sailors on the boat who go out to sail out to bid farewell to the benefactors of the night, and the scene of the two is deeply in love.

As Iwase-Minato becomes more and more lively, an Ataku ship of more than 1,000 koku plows the waves and sails into Iwase-Minato.

The small fishing boats on the side rarely saw such a big boat entering the port, and they all hurriedly rowed away, for fear of being hit by this huge object.

On the bow of the ship, there were two people standing at the head, both of them looking at the harbor with blank expressions.

Both of them were in their twenties and thirties, with dark complexions and physical acquaintances, and they were obviously people who were accustomed to running at sea.

On the surface, they are different from ordinary sailors, but the accent of the two talking to each other is not Japanese, but the local dialect of the Quanzhou Prefecture in southern Fujian of the Ming Kingdom.

Yes, these two are from the Ming Kingdom.

The two were not ordinary boatmen, and in their conversations, it was obvious that they had read books for a few years.

"Brother Li, it seems that this small port in the north of the Japanese country has a bit of weather, and it is quite a bit of a man."

The man, Brother Lee, was a little younger, in his early twenties, but the man who spoke to him, though older, spoke politely.

The person who was called Brother Li smiled faintly and said: "This is natural, I have lived with my father in Hirado in the Wa Kingdom for three years since I was a child, and my father followed the owner of the Wufeng ship and traveled back and forth between Hirado, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing, the owner of Wufeng was placed under house arrest in Hangzhou by the imperial court Zhao'an, and was killed by the dog official Hu Zhongxian. Since then, the brothers have lost their backbone and have had to earn their own lives, and their fathers have set up their own doors. So over the years, I have traveled around the country and seen the customs of this place for a long time. ”

"Although this country is small and the land is barren, it is a place rich in gold and silver, and this northern continent, I have never been to it before, and this time if I can open up joints here for my father, and do business here, it will be a great advantage."

The other person laughed when he heard this, and said: "Brother Li, you are indeed a knowledgeable person, but I heard that the Wako people of Hokuriku are not as open as Kansai and Hirado, and if you want to trade, you must open up the joints of the local government, which is a bit troublesome." Although Brother Li is familiar with the local language, there is still a need for someone who can speak in front of the local government of the Japanese State to lead the way. ”

"But I saw Brother Li come here all the way, but he didn't have any preparations, I don't know why?"

This made Brother Li laugh and said, "Brother Wang, Junior Brother Shu has been selling Guanzi before, and this matter should have been told to you a long time ago." This is not difficult to get through to the local government of Hokuriku Wakoku, but it is not difficult in my eyes at all. ”

"Oh, does Brother Li have any acquaintances?"

The other smiled slightly and shook his head.

This person was even more surprised and said: "If you don't have acquaintances, if you go rashly, I'm afraid you will be caught by the other party as a treacherous person." ”

The Li brother laughed and said, "Brother Wang is too worried, this will not happen at all." ”

"Then I don't know, Brother Li is still telling the truth."

The other party nodded and said, "It's very simple, I don't know anyone, it's just an adult from the official mansion here, but it's our Mingren." ”

"We Akito are in Japan?"

The man was standing at the bow of the ship.

Brother Li nodded and said, "Exactly, when I first heard it, I reacted like you, but this matter is absolutely true, my father has confirmed it, and most of the people in the Japanese country also know about it." I heard that this person's surname is Li Mingxiao, who was originally Fujian Funingwei, a hundred households, who was shipwrecked when he went to sea to fight, and happened to be in this place, but he didn't want to go out of the country. ”…,

After listening to Li Xiaozhi's resume, the person surnamed Wang was amazed and said: "This person's experience is comparable to Tang Sanzang's westward trip to various countries in the market teahouse, which is even more legendary. But what is the specific status of this person in the Wa Kingdom at the moment? ”

The man surnamed Li hesitated for a while, and said: "I don't know the specifics, but I heard in Hirado that the Francophile who came here to preach said that this Lord Li Xiao has a land under his jurisdiction that is hundreds of miles large, and there are tens of thousands of generals under his command, and the port in front of him is also owned by him." And I secretly inquired into the news that the Franciscans had trade dealings with him, mainly gold and silver. ”

The person surnamed Wang nodded and said: "I see, it is worth seeing, even if you can't do business, it doesn't matter, you can also meet in other places, this is the joy of life." However, whether this person is a local person or not, I still dare not be sure. ”

The person surnamed Li said with a smile: "Actually, I have sent someone to meet him in advance, and I have made an appointment to meet here, it should be a good person." ”

With that, the two of them slowly sailed into the harbor.

At this time, a small morning boat had already arrived, and on it stood a dozen sailors, one of whom was dressed as an orthodox samurai, and said to them, "Are you two guests from Hirado?" ”

The man surnamed Li nodded in Japanese and said, "Exactly." ”

The other party then said respectfully: "In Shimomasuda Nagamori, it is the town of this port town, and the lord has already ordered the two of you to wait here for you, please enter the port with the ship." ”

"There is work"

The man surnamed Li arched his hand and said.

Immediately, the ship entered the harbor under the guidance, and the man surnamed Wang asked, "What did you just say to the Japanese people?" ”

The other party thought for a moment and replied: "This widow is the magistrate of this place, and he came to greet us on the order of Li Xiao." ”

How do you know that the man surnamed Wang listened to the other party's words, thought for a while, and said, "My subordinate is the county governor of this place?" Then this Li Xiao is not the state capital. ”

The man surnamed Li laughed when he heard this, but after thinking about it, he dispelled the idea of explaining.

After the ship entered the port and disembarked, the two took ten retinues to follow Masuda Nagamori through the port.

These ten followers carried long knives at their waists, and the man surnamed Wang at the head also had a short firearm pinned to his waist.

In the opinion of the man surnamed Li, this Iwase Minato is not much different from the ports of ordinary Wakoku provinces, and its prosperity is of course far inferior to that of ports like Hirado and Hakata.

Although there are not many residents, it can be seen that the place is in good order.

There were not many soldiers with spears patrolling the road, but everyone was in order, and the market was full of noisy and noisy atmosphere, but there was no sense of congestion and panic.

During this period, I also saw several blonde and blue-eyed missionaries, walking on the streets, and passers-by saw no strange colors, as if they had long been commonplace.

"It seems that this Li Xiao is also a capable official who is good at governing the local area." ……，