Chapter 2068

For the historical figures in this time and space, Ning Qi, who has a background in literature and history, is usually the most familiar. However, even if he is knowledgeable and extensive, it is difficult to remember some not-so-famous little people. Although Zheng Zhilong is very famous, it is difficult to talk about it.

His family, in fact, Ning Qi, like most people, only remembers his eldest son Zheng Sen who died a few years ago.

However, when Haihan and Shibazhi were fighting against each other, Ning Qi also spent a lot of time researching information about Shibazhi. At this time, when He Xi mentioned that Zheng Zhilong had married in Hirado, Japan, he vaguely remembered

Some details related to this.

He Xi turned to look at Ning Qi and said slowly: "It seems that Mr. Ning has also remembered."

"Can you two stop playing riddles? What's going on?" Tao Donglai was confused and immediately urged them to tell the answer to the riddle quickly.

He Xi responded in a deep voice: "The woman Zheng Zhilong married in Japan is the daughter of a retainer of the Hirado domain, and her name is Tagawa Song."

"Tagawa...is the Japanese businessman who was mentioned in the Ministry of Security's previous report as the suspected mastermind the same surname?" Tao Donglai had a good memory and immediately remembered another clue.

He Xi nodded and said: "The Japanese calls himself Tagawa Kenji. Of course, it is possible that this is just a pseudonym. Even if it is the real name, it may not be related to Tagawa Matsu. But if this is not a coincidence, then maybe we will soon find the real mastermind behind the scenes.

Done."

Of course, just a last name is not enough to explain anything, but now that the intelligence agencies have begun to doubt whether this is a coincidence, it is obviously necessary to continue to pursue this clue.

Tao Donglai asked: "What happened to Tagawa Song?"

He Xi responded: "We only know that she used to live in the Hirado Domain of Japan, but because we did not pay continuous attention, we do not have more precise information at hand."

After hearing this, Tao Donglai couldn't help but feel silent. The lack of intelligence in this area cannot be simply attributed to the negligence of intelligence agencies such as the Ministry of Security. After all, the manpower is limited and it is impossible to take into account all aspects. It is also impossible to send people to Japan to monitor such things at that time.

It can't be said that there are many valuable targets. But He Xi has obviously noticed this clue before today's meeting, which finally makes up for the omissions in previous intelligence work.

Ning Qi also said at this time: "If we follow historical records, Zheng Zhilong and Tagawa Song should have had a son and have been living in Japan."

"How old is his son? He should not be an adult yet?" Tao Donglai asked.

He Xi had obviously done some research on this, and immediately said: "Zheng Zhilong's second son was born the year before we traveled through time. If there were no accidents, he should be twelve years old this year."

"At the age of twelve, even a child prodigy would not be able to plan and direct such a large operation." Tao Donglai felt a little relieved after hearing this answer. He actually did not want the case he was currently investigating to be related to Zheng Zhilong.

Because this can only show that there were serious loopholes in the pursuit and suppression back then, so that after four or five years, we still have to clean up the work that was not completed at that time.

He Xi shook his head and said: "Of course this kid can't be the main messenger, nor can he preside over such a big operation. However, the remnants of Shibazhi were not wiped out at that time. There is no guarantee that some people will not gather around him in the name of revenge.

You see, the little bosses in charge of these commercial institutions we have recently seized are almost all people who are not afraid of death. The identities of these people are unknown, and I suspect that they are all related to the Shibazhi back then.

"

He Xi made it clear that he suspected that the remnants of Shibazhi were still active and had planned and implemented a series of weapons-smuggling cases in recent months. Of course, this was just one incident.

There was a lack of evidence for the speculation, so he did not issue an order to launch an investigation in this regard.

"Only relying on the overlap of one surname as a basis, this inference is not safe enough, right? Does the Ministry of Security have more evidence to support your opinion?" Tao Donglai also expressed caution about this. After all, Japan is not the Ming Dynasty, and it has no influence on the sea.

Han Dynasty is still a relatively unfamiliar area. If we want to investigate this, we will have to make a lot of noise.

He Xi responded: "Judging from the information we currently have, although this man named Tagawa Kenji can speak Chinese and has a good understanding of the situation in the Ming Dynasty and our country, he is an authentic Japanese. But we are currently from

According to the information collected from various trading ports, there is no more information about this person. He is not a famous maritime merchant. If it were not for the confession from Jin Yiwei, we would not even know that such a person exists in the world."

"Then the question arises. This person knows so much about the Ming Dynasty and our country's overseas colonial ports. He should be a businessman who frequents various trading ports, and he will never be an unknown person. But the actual situation is exactly the opposite. This person is in

There is no reputation at all in the business world. So where did his understanding of Ming Dynasty and our country come from? I think this is not from his own experience, but from information provided by others, such as those captured by us in various places

A petty boss who runs a business organization."

"Also, this group of people can open so many commercial institutions along the coast of Ming Dynasty and in my country's overseas colonial ports. They have trading partners from the north of Liaoning Province to the Philippines. The amount of capital required is not a small amount. It is definitely not something ordinary businessmen can do. Affordable. Those with such a family background must have already become a dominant maritime trader, at least at the level of Xu Xinsu. With Japan's limited maritime trade scale, it is unlikely that such a business scale can be nurtured. It’s a big business. But if you have Shiba Zhi’s family background, it will be much easier to achieve these business projects.”

He Xi explained some of the doubts he had thought of bit by bit. In his opinion, these doubts all pointed to the same direction of investigation, which was the Eighteen Shiba Party members hiding in Japan. If this assumption is true, then

Most of the unsolved mysteries that have emerged in current investigations can be answered reasonably.

Ning Qi said: "It sounds quite reasonable, so now you just lack some key evidence to confirm your inference."

He Xi said in a deep voice: "They have brought back so many people alive one after another, I don't believe they can't even pry open a mouth!"

Since the Zhangzhou Jinfa and Zhengfuji incidents, in just a few days, Haihan has successively seized several commercial institutions possessing Spanish-style weapons in multiple trading ports, and arrested dozens of suspects. However, these

Among the people, only a few ringleaders who used their identities as shopkeepers as cover were the ones who really had key information. These ringleaders were all die-hards and were completely unwilling to cooperate during the interrogation, which prevented the investigation from making the expected progress.

Lu Jiu, who was arrested in Penghu Zhengyuanji, was the first ringleader to be tried. Yu Yao thought that the other party would soon confess under torture, but he did not expect that this guy had received anti-interrogation training.

Although he spoke after the torture, the content of his confession was inconsistent with the preface and the follower, and the credibility was extremely low.

The subsequent arrests of several ringleaders from other places were in similar situations. They seemed to rather die than confess the information they had. Torture experts are not available everywhere. Without this condition, it would be impossible to interrogate.

If the suspect was found guilty, they could only send the person back to Sanya for processing. The investigation was delayed for several days as a result.

But at this time, Yu Yao, who had received the secret order from Sanya, was using another method to investigate the relevant situation.

The Batavia War in 1632 dealt a huge blow to the Dutch East India Company's operations in East Asia. Haihan also entered Taiwan Island very forcefully at this time, further reducing the Dutch's space for activities. Haihan's fleet came to the city and directly blocked it.

Outside Damuan Port, in order to retain the only Dutch colony near Daming, the Dutch had to lower their heads and sign a peace agreement with Haihan, and then watched helplessly as the Haihan people were less than a hundred miles away from Damuan Port.

Kaohsiung Port was built there.

When Hans, the chief of Taiyuan Port, was still hesitating whether to hinder the construction of Kaohsiung Port, the Haihan Army attacked the two port strongholds of Tamsui and Jilong, which were then ruled by Spain, at the beginning of the next year, and then conquered the Spanish

The people rushed back to the South China Sea. The Dutch thought that their strength was not much better than the Spanish, and they did not dare to make any mistakes at the moment.

After that, Haihan stationed armed forces in Penghu and Kaohsiung. Taiyuan Port, which is located right in between, was basically exposed to Haihan's surveillance without any cover. Any improper behavior may quickly attract military strikes.

.In addition to being an honest person, the Dutch have no other choice.

Although the East India Company thus maintained the bridgehead for trade with the Ming Dynasty, there were very few goods left that they could sell to the Ming Dynasty, and they were basically squeezed out of the market by Haihan goods. And because of the existence of Haihan, willing to

Almost all the people who left the Ming Dynasty to make a living chose Haihan as their destination. It was difficult for the Dutch to recruit immigrants from the Ming Dynasty to expand the operation scale of Damuan Port, and not many Dutch people in Batavia were willing to go to the Ming Dynasty.

Thousands of miles away, a colonial port that was not prosperous settled down. So after a few years, Damuan Port has been left far behind by Kaohsiung Port, which came up from behind. It is still only a small port with a permanent population of less than 3,000.

However, Taiyuan Port's income can also rely on another livelihood, which is to serve as a transit port for domestic merchant ships on the northern route, allowing Dutch merchant ships bound for Dinghai Port in Zhejiang, as well as Ryukyu and Japan to complete supplies and repairs here. Although this operation

There are not too many merchant ships on several routes, but at least it can make Taiyuan Port a little more popular without making it look too depressed.

For Hans, being able to keep this port means keeping the only privilege he has. Although he is a little aggrieved under the supervision of the Haihan people, fortunately, the Haihan people still pay attention to credibility. Since the signing of the peace treaty,

There is no sign of an invasion of Damuan Port. The past few years have been much peaceful than before the Haihan people came to Fujian, when the Ming, Shibazhi, and Spanish were fighting back and forth.

Although under the provisions of the peace treaty, Taiyuan Port cannot retain too much force deployment, especially the shore defense firepower and armed ships are subject to extremely strict restrictions, there has been no trouble in recent years. After all, Penghu

It is very close to the Haihan Military Base in Kaohsiung. No one dares to cause trouble in the nearby waters. To a certain extent, it serves as a free protection umbrella for Taiyuan Port. Although Hans is unwilling to accept it, he also knows that this situation is no longer his own.

I can only change it with my own power, so I can only accept it calmly.

However, although they are close, the two countries are not in conflict with each other, and there is rarely any contact between the two countries. The Batavia authorities do not want Damian Port to be gradually assimilated by Haihan, and Hans also understands the importance of keeping a distance from Haihan

, so the two sides rarely have official contacts in normal times.

But today the sun probably came out from the west, and a Haihan warship sailed into Taiyuan Port in a grand manner. However, judging from the closed gun windows of the ship, there should be no malicious intent in this visit.

After receiving the report from his men, Hans immediately rushed to the port to check the situation. He did not think that the arrival of the Haihan warships was to invade Damuan Port. If the Haihans really planned to do this, they would not be so big as to send only one.

A warship came over. But he didn't feel that the Haihan people's initiative to visit had much goodwill. If it was a normal diplomatic exchange, there would be no need to send a warship. An ordinary sailing ship would be enough.

But after the warship docked, Hans was surprised by the person who got off the ship. The person turned out to be Yu Yao, Haihan's top military officer in the Fujian Strait area. A senior official of this level visited Damuan Port.

They didn't say hello in advance, which really surprised Hans.

Surprised, Hans did not dare to show any slightness. He knew that General Haihan had great authority and could command the Taiwan fleet with more than 30 warships, as well as more than 2,000 troops stationed on Taiwan Island and Penghu Island.

Army. Even the other party can turn Damuan Port into another piece of territory on the Haihan territory within a day with just one order.

After Hans stepped forward and briefly exchanged greetings with Yu Yao, he felt relieved because the other party said that he had some trade matters to discuss with him this time, not the issues he was worried about. Hans quickly asked someone to bring him

A carriage was dispatched and he invited Yu Yao to his official residence for a slow and detailed discussion.

Hans's official residence was the city of Geranze, located on the banks of the Saltwater Creek. This castle stronghold was built in 1623, but the first phase of the project was not actually completed until 1632. At this time, the Batavia War broke out, and the East

All the resources of the Indian company in East Asia were transferred back to the South China Sea, and there was no money to support the construction of the castle. After that, the Haihan people quickly entered Taiwan, and the peace agreement that the Dajuan authorities were forced to sign included the cessation of the continued construction of Relanja City.

The requirements for combat fortifications. Therefore, the castle actually only built a rough framework, and then was forced to dismantle all the fortifications and convert it into a manor in subsequent projects.
Chapter completed!