In the town of Nagasaki Port, which belonged to the Hizen Nabeshima domain (the Hizen Nabeshima and Kumamoto Kuroda domains alternately served as Nagasaki Imperial Officers, so there was a Jinya in Nagasaki), Tokugawa Yoribo and Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who had been walking all the way, finally met the Ming diplomat Zheng Sen Zheng Daiki, who had been in Japan for several months. The two sides were kneeling down and participating in the negotiations were Tokugawa Mitsuku, the son of Shigemo Baba, Nanaemon Tagawa, and Tokugawa Yoribo, as well as several Nagasaki Daishi (all overseas Chinese) who were in charge of recording and translating.

It is said that it is a negotiation, but in fact, the general conditions have been negotiated through the two running horse farms, and today's arrangement for Zheng Sen to meet with Tokugawa Yoribo and Matsudaira Nobutsuna is just the final finalization of the conditions that have been negotiated by both sides.

"Nakayan, Izu Mamoru ......" After the bigwigs on both sides got to know each other and said a bunch of polite words, Shigetoshi Baba brought the conversation to the main topic.

The Nagasaki feudal lord first told Tokugawa Yoribo and Matsudaira Nobutsuna in Japanese: "Zheng Hou of the Ming Kingdom was a friend of the shogunate, and Zheng Hou's father, Quanzhou Gong, also went to Odawara Castle to see Taitokuin (Tokugawa Hidetada) in his early years, and he was supported by Taitokuin and can be trusted. ”

Zheng Zhilong was also covered by the "halo of the protagonist" when he was young, and when he was in Nagasaki in his early years, he once went to Odawara Castle as a representative of the Chinese businessmen in Nagasaki to meet the former general Hidetada, who was already called the "Great Imperial Palace". Because of this, he received some support from the Nagasaki Commission, and he was indeed a friend of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Zheng Senda lived in Nagasaki as a child and went to China at the age of seven, so he can understand Japanese and speak a little. When he heard Baba mention of "Odawara Visit", he said to Yoribo in Japanese: "Naka-nayan, when my father was in Fujian, he was very sad to learn of the death of Taitoku-in, and he always wanted to go to Edo Sojo-ji Temple to pay homage to the tomb of Taitoku-in. It's just that there is no chance to make the trip, and when Benjue left Nanjing, his father asked Benjue to go to Edo to worship and sweep the Taitokuin Temple. I wonder if it's going to be possible? ”

He is now playing the emotional card, with the aim of entering Edo and meeting Tokugawa Iemitsu - he is not only an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, but also a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, and his sister is also the side chamber of the Prince Regent of the Ming Dynasty, and his status is noble. Once in Edo, Tokugawa Iemitsu was most likely to entertain him.

Zheng Sen also had the opportunity to directly discuss the signing of the "Tomorrow's Trade Agreement" with the general...... Japan was closed to the Ming Dynasty, the Netherlands, and Korea, and only Nagasaki (in fact, there was also a Ryukyu trade channel). Korea itself is closed off from the country, so naturally there are no merchant ships that can reach Japan. Therefore, Japan's foreign trade was actually monopolized by the Zheng family and the Dutch East India Company.

Monopoly of course means huge profits! And the two monopolies, of course, are not as comfortable as eating alone...... Now, because of Zhu Cihong's founding policy, the Zheng family has lost the right to monopolize Sino-Dutch trade with the Dutch East India Company, so they want to make up for it from Japanese trade.

Tokugawa Yoribo and Matsudaira Nobutsuna exchanged glances with each other, and then spoke: "This matter needs to be decided by the public side, but this official can make a request on his behalf, and I believe that the public side will not refuse." ”

That's pretty much it!

Zheng Sen added, "The Lord now knows that the remnants of Toyotomi who occupied Jeju Island in Korea were not sent by the shogunate, and that they were enemies of the shogunate. ”

"That's right," Matsudaira Nobutsuna took over the topic and nodded, "Although they are loyal ministers, they are indeed enemies of the shogunate!" The shogunate was willing to send troops to expel them, but now that Japan is closed off from the country, there are no big ships that can go to Jeju Island, and they still hope that the Jeong family will provide it. ”

Zheng Sen asked: "Then when the shogunate army expelled the remnants of Toyotomi, who will occupy Jeju Island?" ”

"The shogunate has no ambitions for the land of Jeju Island," Tokugawa Yoribo said, "but it must be ensured that the island is not reoccupied by the remnants of Toyotomi...... With the strength of the Zheng family's water division, it's not difficult to do, right? ”

Zheng Sen actually shook his head and said with a wry smile: "This matter is not simple! ”

"How?" Matsudaira Nobutsuna frowned, "You can't do it?" Do you want to ask the Dutch for help? ”

"Hehe," Zheng Sen smiled, "How did Mamoru Izu think these Toyotomi relict landed on Jeju Island?" ”

"What?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Tokugawa Yoribo and Matsudaira Nobutsuna were stunned.

Zheng Sen said: "According to Benjue's investigation, the remnants of Toyotomi arrived on Jeju Island on the soft-sailed galen ship of the Xiyi people!" ”

"Huh?"

"Is this true?"

Zheng Sen said: "It's true! ”

From Toyotomi's widow to Jeju Island was a Galen ship that Zhu Tzu-hong bought from Macau, and most of the sailors on board were Westerners, but there were also some blacks...... When the Tokugawa shogunate army went to Jeju Island on the big bird boat provided by the Zheng family, they would see with their own eyes that the remnants of Toyotomi had escaped on the Westerners' Galen boats!

Flee in the direction of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was controlled by the Satsuma Domain......

Matsudaira Nobutsuna asked, "Then when will the Zheng family provide warships to transport the shogunate army to Jeju Island?" ”

Zheng Sen replied, "Considering that the remnants of Toyotomi are supported by the Xiyi warships, the Zheng family also needs to dispatch a certain number of warships, so we have to wait until next year.

In addition, we need to consult with the Kingdom of Korea...... After all, Jeju Island is the land of North Korea! The shogunate has no objection to this, right? ”

Matsudaira Nobutsuna replied in the affirmative, "No objections." ”

Tokugawa Yoribo added, "But the shogunate cannot apologize to the North Korean side for the actions of Toyotomi's bereaved vassals...... And Korea must ensure that Jeju Island is no longer used by Toyotomi's remnants as a stronghold to disturb Japan's domestic stability! ”

"Nakayan, Mamoru Izu," Zheng Sen pondered his words, "and if you insist on not apologizing, you will also demand that Jeju Island no longer be used by the remnants of Toyotomi...... Then the date of sending troops will probably be delayed. Because the DPRK is now in a great calamity, it is no longer possible to control the Korean state as it was in the past. We need more time to send envoys to negotiate with the king of Joseon.

In order to ensure communication between tomorrow, Japan, and North Korea, we hope to open an embassy in Edo...... And it was hoped that the shogunate would allow the Zheng family's merchant ships to enter and leave Edo Port. ”

Both Tokugawa Yoribo and Matsudaira Nobutsuna were taken aback.

"What?"

"You Zheng family merchant ships want to enter and leave Edo?"

Zheng Sen smiled and nodded: "This is good for both parties...... My family is going to open a route to New Spain via Japan. Some items from the Ming Dynasty or the South Seas will be brought to Edo, and whale oil and lacquerware from Japan will be shipped away. No gold, silver, or brass will be taken from Japan. ”

The Zheng family's merchant ships were very profitable to enter and leave Edo! This is because the real market in Japan is in Edo, and after the implementation of the Hajj system, the owners of the "Three Hundred Domains" in Japan have become "Edo people", and they and their families have lived in Edo for a long time, and the time they return to the domain is a very small proportion of them, which is equivalent to a business trip.

Therefore, the consumption of the feudal lord and a considerable part of the important ministers of the feudal domain was also in Edo! Once the Zheng family's merchant ships were legally allowed to enter and leave the port of Edo, they were able to directly provide overseas luxury goods to the feudal lords and retainers, the wealthiest class in Japan. The benefits are huge, you can imagine.

Plus, it's the Age of Discovery! Japan is no longer a country at the end of the world, and to the east of Japan, there is a vast New World.

With the current seafaring capacity of Chinese sailing ships, it is very difficult to start from the mainland and reach the New World directly without replenishment, and even if they can drive over, they will not be able to carry any goods.

It was therefore necessary to secure a port in eastern Japan, and Edo was of course the best choice – the Zheng family could even establish a trade route from Shanghai, via Edo, to New Spain (Mexico), and then to Taiwan by a route close to the equator (a direct flight along the current).

This trade route almost overlapped with the Spanish galleon trade route, except that it landed at the port of Edo in Japan, and instead of using Chinese raw silk and porcelain as the main commodities to be exported to the New World, it was exported to New Spain with whale oil and lacquerware (which can also be translated as lacquerware, which shows how popular Japanese lacquerware was in the West during the Age of Discovery).