The ancient East was an agrarian civilization that did not pay much attention to the sea.

They can't be blamed either.

After all, the world is connected as a whole in hundreds of years.

As long as farming can ensure that there is food, who is willing to risk going to sea.

The lack of attention to the sea extends to the lack of attention to "sea power", thus giving Yang Chengying an opportunity to take advantage of.

Especially the Matsumae Domain.

In fact, the Wa Kingdom did not have Hokkaido at the earliest.

Hokkaido is home to an indigenous people, the Ainu, who are at odds with several feudal states of the Wa Kingdom.

For example, the Matsumae Domain, which ruled the southern region of Hokkaido, known as "Ezo Land".

Among the Tokugawa shogunate feudal states, the Matsumae domain was a very special daimyo that did not have Ishitaka.

Because of the high latitude and lack of arable land in Hokkaido, it is impossible to grow rice, so it is impossible to calculate the stone height.

As the Matsumae Domain, which had no high daimyo and could not rely on agriculture, its main income was from trading with the Ainu people in the north.

In the Ezo trade, the feudal lord personally dispatched trading ships to trade.

Even the Zhiyuki who gave the retainers in the domain assigned the trading ground in Ezo to the retainers, and recognized their right to send trading ships there to trade.

This strange way of ruling was officially established during the reign of the second feudal lord, Matsumae Kohiro.

Two years ago, in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Matsumae Kohiro asked his retainers to make a map of the territory on the occasion of the arrival of the shogunate's envoy to Ezo.

The proceeds from the trade mall were distributed to the retainers as knowledge and deeds, thus establishing the structure of the retainers.

At the same time, the gold mountain was set up financially for gold mining.

In this case, Yang Chengying didn't take the opportunity to intervene, and he was sorry for his identity as a traverser.

Tokugawa Iemitsu obviously had something else in mind, and he felt that he had not been able to meddle in the affairs further north, so he took this opportunity to do better.

So, the two who were pregnant with ghosts hit it off.

With the general's nod, Zong Yicheng was also released.

"Thanks to King Zhou's kind words in front of the general, otherwise my fate would have been miserable."

When Zong Yicheng saw Yang Chengying, he had a sense of happiness after the catastrophe.

Yang Chengying smiled and said: "It's not that I saved you, but that you saved yourself." ”

As they spoke, the attendant poured them a glass of wine.

Yang Chengying raised his wine glass and toasted to Zong Yicheng.

Zong Yicheng was busy returning the courtesy.

After a glass of wine, Zong Yicheng put the wine cup on the table and asked curiously: "I still can't figure it out!" Ask the king of Zhou for guidance. ”

"The lords of the Shimabara domain, Matsukura Shigemasa and Matsukura Katsuie, in order to curry favor with the shogunate, burned the Portuguese merchant ships in their territory and wantonly killed the believers of Kiritan."

Yang Chengying said: "They have the ability to kill people and set fires, but they don't have the ability to govern the feudal government, and what awaits them will be the fate of seppuku and change." ”

After saying this premise, Yang Chengying suddenly asked: "You think they are so loyal, why do you want the shogunate to kill them?" ”

"Maybe the shogunate didn't completely recognize people with loyalty, but the key is whether or not it can stabilize the country."

Zong Yicheng thought about it carefully and somewhat understood.

"That's only part of the story."

Yang Chengying drank another glass of wine.

Zong Yicheng shook his head, he really couldn't think of it.

"Value!" Yang Chengying said, "You have to have the value of the shogunate's wooing, and you can trade with the Li Dynasty by virtue of your natural terrain." That alone is not enough to become a worthy feudal lord. ”

"I can properly handle the relationship with the King of Zhou and the Li Dynasty, and although the means used are not very bright, I can also take care of everything for the shogunate."

Zong Yoshicheng smiled bitterly, "Although I spent a lot of money on this, in the eyes of the shogunate, this is what I should pay." ”

In addition to the annual trade share, Zong Yicheng also took out a part of the Iwami Silver Mountain as a thank you gift to Yang Chengying for free.

The shogunate knew about the money, but it pretended not to see it.

"You've got the hang of it! The more the shogunate knows that you have signed a lease agreement with me, the more he will not dare to rush into you, and it will touch my interests. ”

Yang Chengying said: "After you go back, don't deliberately change. As it was before, it will still be the same. ”

"Got it. With your big tree, I can do everything relatively smoothly. ”

Both laughed.

At this time, Zu Zepei walked in from outside.

He glanced at Zong Yicheng and stopped talking.

"It doesn't matter, the feudal lord is his own person, so if you have something to say, just say it." Yang Chengying said.

Zong Yicheng listened to the translation and glanced at Yang Chengying gratefully.

Zu Zepei said: "Gui Bo Xuanfang secretly sent someone to ask you to save his life." ”

"What do you think?"

Yang Chengying turned his head to look at Zong Yicheng, wanting to hear his opinion.

"Humph! This treacherous and cunning guy was all the one he instigated Yanagawa to sue me for his tricks in the shogunate! ”

Zong Yicheng was furious.

It turned out that with the improvement of Gui Bo Xuanfang's status, he was also fluttering.

He began to interfere in the internal affairs of the domain, wanting to collude with Yanagawa to transfer the property of the clan and replace the clan family.

When Yang Chengying heard this, he told Zu Zepei: "Tell the person who came, just say that he and I are both smart people, and we should know that doing business pays attention to courtesy, and he broke the rules, so don't blame me for being polite." ”

"Understood." Zu Zepei stepped back.

Zong Yicheng said gratefully: "King Zhou's kindness, I will definitely repay it in the future." ”

"Now is not the time to say these words, you hurry back to the Tsushima Domain to stabilize the situation."

Yang Chengying advised: "On the way back, by the way, I will run a trip to the Ogi Domain, saying that I will visit him personally if I have the opportunity in the future." ”

"It's easy, I'll do it." Zong Yicheng agreed.

The official name of the Ogi Domain was the famous Choshu Domain, and the lord of the domain, Mori Hidemoto. He is the grandson of Mori Motosashi and the eldest son of Hoida Motokiyo.

The relationship between the Choshu domain and the shogunate was not good, mainly because the Choshu domain, as the overlord of the western kingdom, had less and less territory, and in the end even the maritime trade was deprived.

How to get in touch with this Chōshū clan requires a little means.

However, this is not the best time yet.

Yang Cheng needed to assist the shogunate in extinguishing the Shimabara Rebellion and completely obtaining the right to trade in the major ports.

On June 13, Tokugawa Iemitsu issued a shogunate order ordering the feudal domains of Kyushu to assist the shogunate army in quelling the rebellion.

He sent Wakanian to send Miura Masaji to lead 7,000 shogunate troops to the front.

Yang Chengying also issued a military order to transfer the naval fleet stationed in the Satsuma Domain, led by Zheng Zhilong, to the Ariake Sea east of Shimabara and west of the Kumamoto Domain.

As soon as the large fleet arrived, those small ships were not enough.

According to Zheng Zhilong's report, according to Matsudaira Nobutsuna's request, the sea was blocked with artillery fire and all the warships were sunk.

Without the loss of food supply, the people, who had been living by eating grass roots, immediately fell into poverty.

The shogunate army began to encircle them.

"I'm a person who doesn't like to kill, but I'll always remember that no snowflake is innocent in an avalanche."

Yang Chengying poured a glass of wine and drank it leisurely.

His fleet was sailing towards its destination, the Ariake Sea.