On Hachijojima, Lee Zhaoji reached a cooperation agreement with the Dutch Toindo and Du Company, and also rejected the ridiculous terms of peace talks from the shoguns of the Edo shogunate.

Afterwards, the trading company sent Japanese envoys and a Dutch fleet, then replenished the barren Hachijo Island with some fresh water, and left the island to sail north along the east coast of Japan's main island of Honshu.

At this time, it was close to the wind period of the north wind, but it was still difficult for the ships in the fleet to be powered by sails, and at this time, how much Li Zhaoji missed the Chinese sails of the Ming ships.

And the fleet has another goal on this trip, Ezo! That is, the island of Hokkaido in later generations.

Blowing southwesterly winds, the fleet continued northward, and in just six days, the fleet reached the Tsugaru Strait and then went westward, just in late autumn in Hokkaido, with dense bushes along the coast and black jungle in the distance, and snow-capped peaks.

During this time, the fleet anchored and went ashore for the last round of replenishment, and saw a tall and thick coniferous forest, and heavy pine needles on the ground.

Sweet berries and mushrooms, as well as seals ubiquitous along the coast, fed the fleet with a fresh meal before departing for the morning of the day, arriving at Fukuyama Castle in Matsumae Domain.

The port was so dilapidated that the Matsumae clan sent a small boat to contact the port as the fleet approached, indicating that it was a land under the protection of the Edo shogunate. The northernmost part of Japan, apparently unaware of what was happening in Nagasaki, and who the Oriental Trading Company was.

But ignorance does not mean that they are innocent, and when Lee Zhaoji sees the islands occupied by the Japanese, they are guilty.

Li Zhaoji made clear his intention to the envoy of the Matsumae Domain, informing him that because the Japanese Edo Shogunate had an unshirkable responsibility in the Nagasaki Incident, all the land under the Edo Shogunate would be punished by the trading company, and that the Matsumae Domain needed to leave the city and surrender voluntarily in order to save his life.

However, the return of the envoy brought about a rebellion by the Matsumae Domain, but the so-called rebellion was extremely comical, and an army of about 100 men assembled from under Fukuyama Castle, led by a few samurai, armed with only a dozen arquebuses, rushed directly to the beach, blocked the landing of the caravan, and then was bombarded by naval guns and scattered.

The remnants fled back to Fukuyama Castle and closed the gates, leaving no longer the power to hinder the trading company's forces from occupying the castle town and port.

The army occupied the castle town without any looting, and even sent Matsushita Tomaki into the castle town to pacify the townspeople in his Japanese.

Because it was close to night, Li Zhaoji did not let his subordinates attack, but only guarded against possible counterattacks in the city, and set up barricades and arranged defensive forces on the streets leading from the city gate to the port.

Just as Lee received the news when he was in Sado, the Matsumae Domain was in decline at this time, and the buildings of the castle town and port were exactly the size of a small town, judging from the area, there may have been 3,000 townspeople here, but when the settled Japanese were cooking before nightfall, there were only about 20 fireworks on the chimneys.

Taking into account the fact that some people have taken refuge in Fukuyama Castle and some people have fled the port, it is also possible to estimate the population size of this port city - no more than 500 people.

"Your Highness, I am a merchant of the Ryohama Gumi, Yamagae Kiryō, and the letter held by your envoy is from my cousin, Yamada Kiso." A young man appeared in the barn where Lee lived temporarily after nightfall.

Under the light of the candle flame, Li Zhaoji could see the roll of his throat and the sweat running down his forehead.

Yamamae was a group of merchants from Noto Province who were from Noto Province but his ancestors were from the Omi region, and the Yohama Group, organized by the Omi merchants, monopolized the import of local grain and the export of fishery products after negotiations with the Matsumae Domain.

Without the information provided by Yamae Kisō, Lee would not have launched this expedition against the Matsumae Domain.

"Yamaedi had provided me with some information about Ezo because of him, my fleet had come here, but I needed to confirm it, and I needed new information to decide on my next attack." Li Zhaoji said.

He nodded slightly at Tang Mu, and Tang Mu handed the gold bar wrapped in a piece of silk to the mountain front Mu Ling.

"No need Your Highness, I just need you to guarantee the safety of my goods." Yamamae Mu Ling touched it and knew what was inside, he said in a deep voice.

"But I need you to be honest." Lee Siu Kee said.

"I think the message that Yamae-ki told you was about the landslide three years ago and the Anui swarm this year, and what I want to tell you is that I told him exactly what I told him. The Ryohama gumi needed food for trade with the Matsumae Domain, and as you may know, Kiso had food in Japan during a time of famine, so I visited his Yamamae House earlier this year. Yamamae Muling said.

Li Zhaoji nodded slightly: "So I can tell you again, if I don't tell the truth, there will definitely be something hidden or changed, I believe with your wisdom, you can judge it." ”

After the occupation of Sado by the Oriental Trading Company, Lee shifted his focus to how to keep the Treasure Island. So this expedition is planned.

This expedition swept through many large and small islands around Japan, and the secret peace agreements signed with some feudal lords made the shogunate's power against trading companies decline. Many feudal clans avoided attacks from trading companies and did not become enemies of trading companies.

Lee Siu-kee is setting fires, and the more fires there are, the harder it is to extinguish the fire.

It's just that the Matsumae Domain was not the place where Li Zhaoji envisioned it to be set on fire at first, after all, it was too far away from Sado, and it not only consumed time, but also approached winter in terms of season. Moreover, the strength of the Matsumae Domain was not something that could be easily swallowed by the Oriental Trading Company.

Although there are more inhabitants on Iki Island than the Matsumae Domain, because of the order of one country and one city, Ikiki not only does not have a decent garrison, but also does not even have a defensive city, so it is easy to attack.

Unlike the Matsumae Domain, Fukuyama Castle has been built for nearly 40 years, and although the Matsumae Domain does not produce rice, the Matsumae Domain has a large population, and for hundreds of years, more than 40,000 people have come to trade and pan for gold, and the Matsumae Domain has been at war with the local Ezo people for more than 100 years, so it is naturally well armed.

In this way, Li Zhaoji originally did not consider going to Matsumae, but in a chance conversation with Yamae Kiso, the greedy guy told him something about what happened to Matsumae Domain, which made Li Zhaoji make up his mind.

Three years ago, a volcano less than 100 miles north of the Matsumae Domain erupted, which directly caused a major loss of strength in the Matsumae Domain.

This was actually the eruption of Komagatake Volcano, which was so strong that it directly reduced the 1,700-meter-high volcano by 600 meters, and caused more than 700 deaths at that time. Since then, black rain from volcanic ash has fallen, affecting even the northern part of Honshu.

The total amount of material emitted by this volcanic eruption is about the same amount of earth that Chinese have excavated the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal for more than a thousand years.

This eruption not only changed the Matsumae Domain, but also Japan, as the influence of volcanic particles caused heavy rains in the Tohoku region of Japan, while the southwest, Chugoku, Shikoku, and other places experienced severe droughts for many years, which directly led to the Kanei famine that continues to this day.

As a result, the shogunate banned the sale of sake brewery, tobacco, tofu and udon, and finally abolished human trafficking and land lease transfers altogether, in order to prevent people from fleeing and land annexation.

According to Yamae Kiso, after the volcanic eruption, a large number of gold diggers and merchants fled, which directly led to the Great Depression in the Matsumae domain.

"The Matsumae Domain does not produce rice, and all rice is imported by our Ryohama Group, so I know best how many people there are in the local area. The year before the landslide, there were only about 1,000 people left here, and all the ferryers fled.

The settlements and gold panning points in the north were all lost. Yamamae Muling said.

"So, how many people are there now?"

"Between six thousand and seven thousand. In fact, last year, it was restored to this number, and the reason why the crossing party did not dare to come back was because the war with the Anui began. Yamamae Muling said.

Li Zhaoji nodded: "That's why when we landed, the Matsumae Domain only sent a hundred people to block it, right?" ”

"Yes, the Anui people believe that it was the gold rush of the crossing party, the angry mountain gods and the heavenly gods, that caused the great landslide, so they are full of hatred for us and people. Of course, I think this is just a pretext for the Anui to start looting and war.

The reality was that after the landslide, a large number of the Ferry Party left the settlements and gold mining sites, while the Anui took the opportunity to move in, occupy the Ferry Parties' houses and vegetable gardens, and use the weapons left behind by the Ferry Party to pan for gold themselves. Yamamae Muling said.

Li Zhaoji nodded slightly, an excuse or something, he didn't care, didn't the Nagasaki incident also be used by him as an excuse to loot Japan?

"As far as I know, most of the troops of the Matsumae Domain were on the front line against the counterattack of the Anui, and there were not many soldiers and horses in Fukuyama Castle. ”

Li Zhaoji nodded slightly, feeling that he had indeed made the right bet and came to the right place.

As he was thinking, Yamagae asked, "Your Highness, are you ready to rule this land as you would rule Sado?" ”

Li Zhaoji smiled and asked, "What do you think?" ”

Obviously, Yamae did not know that the trading company had swept many Japanese islands along the way to the north, and his knowledge of the trading company was limited to the reassurance of the castle town by the representative of the trading company during the day today, and the introduction and evaluation of the Oriental trading company in the letter written by Yamae Kiso to the Ryohama group.

"I think yes, it's a good opportunity, I know how to get into Fukuyama Castle." When Yamamae Muling said this, his breathing was heavy, and it was obvious that he had made up his mind in excitement.

"Say, how to get in!" Tang Mu shouted loudly and held the knife in his hand.

Yamamae Mu Ling shrank his neck in fright, and Li Zhaoji patted Tang Mu's shoulder: "Don't do this, I believe that Mr. Yamamae will tell me, and I am even more convinced that he will get the reward he deserves." ”

"I want to maintain our local monopoly on rice and iron." Yamamae Mu Ling said.

Li Zhaoji nodded: "Can you tell me why?" ”

"Your Highness has occupied Sado and Ezo, the shogunate will definitely attack, Sado will become a battlefield, it is close to my hometown, any war in the Edo shogunate will be a devastation for our merchants, and I will not have a good future after I go back. It's better to stay here and serve you, just like Yamae Kiso. "It's the same as the mountain front wood order.

In that letter, Yamae greatly praised the respect and preferential treatment given to merchants by the trading company, and Yamaeki had obtained the right to distribute ironware in forty villages, which was too attractive to Yamae Kiryo.

In addition to Li Zhaoji's generosity towards the defectors, this system is also a good choice for the current helplessness, because he and his subordinates are unable to exercise direct control over the grassroots level, and it is a good choice to transfer similar authority to people who are friendly to the trading company.