Needless to say, most of the goods in the hands of Chinese businessmen came from through the channel of smuggling.

Even so, the Tokugawa shogunate gave great care and preferential treatment to Chinese merchants.

As soon as Tokugawa Hidetada succeeded to the shogunate, he drafted and issued a document prohibiting Saiyi merchant ships from docking in the territories of other daimyo and engaging in merchant activities, and all of them were to be berthed in Nagasaki or Hirado.

In the case of Tang ships, that is, Chinese merchant ships, no matter where they landed, they could engage in business at the will of their owners.

In Nagasaki and Heido, some Chinese maritime merchants were also taken care of, and the shogunate issued them with seals permitting them to stay as merchants.

Now, a large pie smashed on the head of the Tokugawa family, making Tokugawa Hidetada and others full of dizziness and surprise.

Trade directly with the Ming Dynasty, don't pay tribute, don't make middlemen to make the difference; Mutual dispatch of long-term envoys to better communicate and contact with each other, and jointly deal with Xiyi......

Yes, we can get along with Daming on an equal footing!

What does this mean, it shows that the Tokugawa shogunate is bullish, you big names or something, give me an honest huh!

Dealing with Xiyi together, this is exactly what the Tokugawa shogunate wants to do, and Da Ming and we want to go together again.

As for the other conditions, it's not a problem at all!

The Chinese merchants in Japan were subject to the system of "planting flags with letters", and they were not allowed to trade in the Japanese country without obtaining the certificates and yellow flags issued by the Ming court;

Similarly, the Ming State also recognized the Zhu Decree of the Wa State and forbade unlicensed Wa merchant ships to trade at the shore.

Why did you think of it with our shogunate again, and we were about to issue a national lockdown decree!

Only the most loyal Japanese merchants were issued seals, and the shogunate monopolized overseas trade. Other daimyos, drink the northwest wind to go.

As for the Chinese businessmen in Japan, it was a matter of the shogunate. That's your emperor's order, don't complain about us.

Although Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tokugawa Hidetada attached great importance to trade with the Ming Dynasty, they repeatedly made efforts to repair the relations between the Ming and the Japanese and restore the trade of exploration.

However, the indifference of the Ming State was still the same, so the shogunate could only adopt a policy of encouragement to Chinese merchants, so that more and more Chinese ships were engaged in the smuggling trade from Japan, and the Ming country was also listed as the "trade country" of the Edo shogunate.

In other words, the fact that there were so many smuggling Chinese merchants in the Wa Kingdom had a lot to do with the shogunate's policies.

As long as the shogunate agreed to the conditions of the imperial court, those smuggling maritime merchants would be choked by the neck. The court left a path for them, if they don't go, they will die!

Lin Huazhong, who already had an official rank, was happy, hugged the widow beside him, laughed and drank the wine from the other widow.

On the other side, Tokugawa Hidetada and Dong Qichang have already hooked their shoulders, drunk and misty, and they are as good as brothers.

………………

Hirado, a Chinese community.

Yan Siqi's house is very large, and there are many people coming and going. Because he is not only a group of maritime merchants, or the boss of the pirates, but also the "snail" of the local government of the Japanese country in charge of trade.

It's just that today's house has a different atmosphere. He looked very guarded and a little nervous.

And in a relatively tightly guarded room, Boss Yan, who usually doesn't care about many people, sat upright, with a respectful look on his face.

Across from him, sat two people. A young man with a pleasant face was talking, but a guy with a serious face was sitting there stiffly.

Yang Tiansheng sat down with Yan Siqi, but he was not as solemn and cautious as Boss Yan, and sometimes interjected with a smile to mediate the atmosphere in the room.

"The tree is a thousand feet high, and the leaves fall back to the roots, this is what His Majesty said to the lower officials personally." Wu Zheng arched his hand in a certain direction and said, "No matter how much money you make, it is difficult to return to your home, and it is not what Brother Yan wishes to be a ghost in a foreign land in the end, right?" ”

Yan Siqi was moved, and this sentence directly hit the hidden pain in his heart under his strong appearance, and it can even be said to be the pain of most Chinese maritime merchants living in the Japanese country.

The Chinese have a very strong sense of locality, as the saying goes: "fallen leaves return to their roots", which is a vivid portrayal.

For most Chinese, there is a traditional sense that the place where I was born is my home.

With this awareness, even if you have lived outside for a long time, you will feel that you do not have a sense of belonging.

Especially after death, many Chinese who are adrift abroad want to be able to bury their bones in their hometown, or even have a tablet in the ancestral hall.

So, don't look at the Chinese businessmen who live in Hirado Nagasaki are very rich and live very well. But there are not a few people who want to be able to go home in vain and show glory in front of their fellow villagers and elders.

Yang Tiansheng knew Yan Siqi's psychology very well, and when he saw his intentions, he hurriedly struck while the iron was hot, and said: "The imperial court issued an amnesty order, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ”

Yan Siqi hesitated, of course he hoped to return to his hometown Haicheng. There are clans, relatives and friends, and there are countless dreams of returning home.

But the fate of Wang Zhi, a maritime merchant and pirate, had to make Yan Siqi have worries.

"Don't dare to say anything?" The cold-faced man suddenly spoke, with disdain on his face, and said, "Who killed Wang Zhi, and when is it an old thing?" Now, when the Holy Son of Heaven is in power, he has not tried to kill a single person indiscriminately. ”

As he spoke, the cold-faced man took out the pardon book from his arms and spread it on the table for Yan Siqi to watch, "This is the pardon edict written by Banzai himself, will it be reversed?" ”

"The grass people don't dare." Even Boss Yan, who was fighting for his life at sea and licking blood with his knife, knelt on the ground in the face of the emperor's handwritten pardon.

Yang Tiansheng stretched out his hand to help Yan Siqi up, and sincerely persuaded him: "A vulgar businessman like my brother can also be summoned by Long Live to summon him, but only to get Brother Yan to go back and be killed?" ”

Yan Siqi smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "How dare a certain ant be arrogant, and believe Brother Yang's words even more. Moreover, if a bad life is one, how can you work long live? ”

After a pause, Yan Siqi showed a resolute look on his face, and said: "The emperor is merciful and gracious, forgive the sins of the grass people, and the grass people are willing to follow the dogs and horses and gallop away." ”

Yan Siqi is not all moved, and his doubts have not been completely eliminated, but there is a silver lining, and he is willing to fight.

Moreover, the Ming State opened the sea ban and reached a trade agreement with the Japanese State, and the Chinese merchants residing in the Japanese State were almost equivalent to washing away the charge of "pirates".

Both countries used restrictions such as "Fengshu" and "Zhu Xiang", which was tantamount to choking the necks of the remaining Japanese merchants.

If you don't receive a "letter and flag" from the imperial court, you will not be allowed to come to trade; On the contrary, the Ming Kingdom was also marked by the "Zhu Shape" of the Wa Kingdom.

It seems that there is a loophole to be exploited, but there is another rule. That is, those who have "Zhu Zhuang" can only be Japanese merchant ships, and those who "write books and plant flags" are all Chinese businessmen.

This is very strict, and the maritime merchants who want to continue to do business in the Japanese country can only return to China to receive "Fengshu and plant flags". Those who were guilty in the past can be written off in one lump sum, as long as they donate money to build a port, and then build their own shops.

As for smuggling, he is still capable, but the Japanese country is not thinking about it.

Sell the East and go to the West. The current maritime trade is just these two routes of wealth, and the imperial court can be said to have won one.

Boss Yan is not stupid, on the surface, he was moved and thanked the emperor, but he had already thought clearly in his heart, and the pros and cons were accurately weighed.

Moreover, the first to respond to the call of the imperial court seemed dangerous. But "a thousand dollars buy horse bones", the imperial court can make such a big move as opening the sea ban, how can it go to great lengths to kill a maritime merchant and scare away others!

Yan Siqi thought that he was not that important, and he was even very confused and puzzled by the imperial court.

Needless to say, in Japan, even in Hirado, his strength is far inferior to Li Dan, a non-Japanese sea merchant who has the most seals.

Therefore, when Wu Zheng proposed to go to see Li Dan on a certain day. Yan Siqi knew that the current opportunity was won by his good brother Yang Tiansheng, and he had to seize it.

……………