Chapter 2086

After Amakusa Shiro returned to Minato City, he did not stay at the inn where he spent the night last night. Instead, he found another place to stay to ensure the safety of his whereabouts. Looking back on the investigation process of entering Hirado this time, it can be called a gain.

Not only did they discover the fact that Japan's local armed forces were quietly building an armed fleet, but they also learned more about the situation of the Tagawa family.

But there is still one thing that Amakusa Shiro cannot figure out, and that is what is the relationship between the Tagawa family and the Shiba Shiba Party. According to the information Haihan had previously obtained, Tagawa, the wife of Zheng Zhilong in Hirado,

Song should be a member of the Tagawa family, but after Zheng Zhilong's death, the attitude of the Tagawa family towards Haihan has never been paid attention to. If it hadn't been for the recent investigation that Haihan discovered clues pointing to the Tagawa family, then

The various things happening here in Hirado can easily avoid Haihan's attention.

What Amakusa Shiro saw and heard in Hirado showed that the Tagawa family was very powerful, and even a little bit overshadowed. Although he had only stayed here for two days and three nights, he already felt that the Hirado Domain

The owner is not the Matsuura clan, but the Tagawa clan who is a retainer of the Matsuura clan.

The Tagawa clan not only has a sizable merchant fleet and an armed fleet that is being formed, but may also have support from the Eighteen Shiba Party. In both the commercial and military fields, its strength has far exceeded that of local daimyo's retainers.

To some extent, could the Matsuura clan, as the ruler, really be so reassured by him and just sit back and watch the Tagawa family continue to grow and develop?

This is also a question that Amakusa Shiro cannot understand at present. Is what the Tagawa clan is currently doing is just completing some special tasks for the Matsuura clan that are inconvenient, or is it already planning to replace him and become the next successor of the Hirado clan?

The ruler, he really can't understand it now.

Another question is, since the Tagawa clan has not yet truly grasped the power of the Hirado clan, why is it so eager to launch a series of overseas layouts? You must know that it is not a wise move to proactively provoke an opponent of Kaihan's level.

, if you are not careful, you will ruin the foundation that you have worked so hard to lay. With the current development situation of the Tagawa family, if you can work hard for ten or eight years, it should be no problem to become a powerful force in the Japanese archipelago. With just one or two

It is possible to overthrow the shogunate and ascend to the throne in a generation. But if you jump out in such a hurry now, I am afraid that the final result will be that after a lot of tossing, there will be no chance at all.

Amakusa Shiro couldn't help but think of the boy he met near Hirado Castle yesterday who was said to be the next generation head of the Tagawa clan. Now that a series of dangerous actions of the Tagawa clan have been exposed, there is a high probability that Haihan will not sit idly by and ignore it. Once he wants to deal with it,

It's hard to say if the Tagawa family can survive until the time comes when the young man takes over the family.

"Wouldn't it be better to just do some small business here and be a rich man? If you have to cause trouble..." Amakusa Shiro thought of this, and couldn't help but secretly lamented the Tagawa family's restlessness and made such a irritating decision.

When Haihan's military attack comes in the future, I wonder if these people will not regret their original recklessness.

When he woke up the next morning, Amakusa Shiro checked his belongings again to make sure that he would not leave anything behind at his residence. Although there were still some clues that had not been verified, he would rush to the predetermined location today to meet with the people who were responsible for his evacuation.

The reconnaissance ships are rendezvous. There are some investigation projects that require a lot of time, such as the details of the Tagawa family and the current situation of the Eighteen Shiba Party in Hirado. There is no way to investigate slowly at the moment.

The planned evacuation point was actually the place where he swam ashore in the dark before. It was also the only area on the nearby coastline with relatively gentle shoals and no one living nearby. Just like when he came, he still had to wait patiently until dark.

After that, the reconnaissance ship will arrive at the predetermined location to pick him up and leave.

On the last day of the day, Amakusa Shiro planned to take a good look around Hirado Port and learn as much as possible about the situation here, especially the Hirado Domain’s defense deployment near the port, because he would like to visit this place next time.

At that time, there might be a war with the Hirado clan.

Coming to Hirado Port again, Amakusa Shiro still admired the decision-making of the Matsuura family's ancestors. Being able to turn such a small port with not very good natural conditions into a country's foreign trade center requires not only forward-looking vision and boldness.

decision-making, and at the same time, we must constantly eliminate various pressures and interferences from domestic and foreign countries during the implementation process.

However, Amakusa Shiro is also thinking that if Kaihan comes to run Hirado, the situation may be very different from now. At least the port will not be located in this small bay where it is difficult for large ships to turn around. It will most likely be located in

The bay on the west side of the island is dozens of times larger than the current Hirado Port. The hydrological conditions and surrounding environment are better, and it is obviously more valuable for development. This shows that Matsuura's concept still has a certain degree of development.

After the successful operation of Hirado Port, it seems that the limitations have been established and there is no thought of accelerating the expansion of the scale of operations.

Of course, the Matsuura clan is just a small prince in a remote area of ​​Japan. If the scale of business is too large, it will easily attract the attention of the shogunate, and that may not be a good thing for the Hirado clan.

Amakusa Shiro thought of this, and then looked up at the ruins of Hirado Castle. In order to keep this little family property out of the shogunate's mind, the Matsuura family burned down Hirado Castle themselves and even gave up on rebuilding it.

He deliberately left such a shameful ruin to show his loyalty to the shogunate. This sign has been placed high in Hirado Port for decades. When did the Matsura family dare to demolish the ruins and rebuild Hirado Castle?

That’s when I let go of my mental baggage.

What Amakusa Shiro didn't know was that in the original history, the Matsuura clan had already rebuilt Hirado Castle in the next century, and the construction was started with the permission of the Tokugawa shogunate before rebuilding, so the Matsuura clan's cowardice was

I have been cowardly for a hundred years.

Of course, the current situation is different. At this time, the Hirado Domain's economic and military strength are much better than the same period in history. But whether the Matsuura family has the courage to challenge the authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the current

There is still a big question mark.

Amakusa Shiro strolled to the vicinity of the Dutch Commercial Building. He did not go in rashly. Although the Dutch could barely be called Haihan's trading partners, it was unrealistic to expect them to cooperate with Haihan's military operations overseas.

If Amakusa Shiro went in and revealed his identity, the Dutch might betray him as soon as they turned around.

Amakusa Shiro observed nearby for a while and found that the Dutch business building was quite popular. There were always people coming in and out, and most of them were dignitaries with their entourage. It seemed that the East India Company was operating in Hirado.

The situation should be very good. It is no wonder that Tai Yuan Port in Taiwan has been in such a difficult situation in recent years. The East India Company still insists on not giving up that small colonial port that can basically only serve as a transit point.

After having lunch in the port area, Amakusa Shiro bought some dry food. According to the plan, he would go to the scheduled evacuation location half a day in advance to confirm that the security situation in the area would not affect the evening operations.

However, the evacuation operation that night went very smoothly. The reconnaissance ship appeared near the coast on time. Amakusa Shiro also used fireworks signals to indicate his position on the shore as agreed, and then swam into the sea to the side of the reconnaissance ship, using the rope net lowered along the side of the ship.

Climbed aboard.

Yuan Zhi on the ship had ordered people to prepare towel dryers and a heater for him so that he could get rid of the cold and wet condition as soon as possible.

"Are we going south now?" Amakusa Shiro was changing clothes while also paying attention to the direction of the boat.

"Go south, meet other ships in the south tomorrow, and then go to Nagasaki." Yuan Zhi introduced the next action plan: "But if you make any important discoveries in Hirado, you can also modify the itinerary depending on the situation.

."

"We found quite a lot, let's talk about it as we walk along the way!" Amakusa Shiro thought that there was no need to delay in Hirado for the time being, and suggested that Yuan Zhi act according to the original plan.

Amakusa Shiro's biggest discovery in Hirado is undoubtedly the armed fleet under the Tagawa family. Although there are various signs that this fleet is probably still in the process of being formed, its current strength has already made Amakusa Shiro wary. He

He informed Yuan Zhi in detail about what he saw and heard in the two shipyards, as well as the situation of the secret military workshop discovered in Jingchuan.

Yuan Zhi was also shocked after hearing this. If the Hirado Domain already had the ability to build warships in batches and form a large armed fleet at this time, then Haihan's estimate of the strength of the Hirado Domain was obviously very wrong. This is

Although this kind of armed fleet is still difficult to pose a real threat to the Kaihan Navy, its scope of activities may threaten the trade routes under Kaihan's control. Considering that a series of previous cases have been gradually confirmed to be related to the Hirado Domain

If there is a certain degree of connection, the armed fleet built by it appears to be particularly dangerous.

Of course, the strangest thing is that the person who carried out this matter was not the feudal lord Matsuura clan, but his retainer Tagawa clan. This unreasonable situation also puzzled Amakusa Shiro.

However, Yuan Zhi was not as sharp as Amakusa Shiro: "When I was receiving training in Sanya, the instructor once explained to us some situations in Japan. I remember he said that one of the most common situations in Japan is that the lower class conquers the upper class. Families are divided and usurp the master.

In the family, retainers replace the head of the family, and subordinates replace superiors. These are all very common things in Japan."

Amakusa Shiro did not deny Yuan Zhi's statement, but he still felt that the situation of the Hirado Domain was a bit strange: "Generally speaking, when the bottom overcomes the top, the bottom is strong and the top is weak. This is indeed the case in the Hirado Domain, but as far as I have seen

Judging from the situation, the Matsuura clan, as a daimyo, seems to have no idea of ​​suppressing their retainers, and just sits back and watches the Tagawa clan build strong ships and cannons under their noses. Are they not worried about their positions being replaced by retainers at all? "

Yuan Zhi thought for a while and raised another possibility: "Perhaps the Matsuura family has been sidelined by the Tagawa family at this time, and they can only watch their family property being reduced by their retainers.

Eat away bit by bit. They want to fight, but there is no chance to stand up."

Amakusa Shiro did not expect this, and he felt enlightened when he heard this: "Speaking of which, I have been in Hirado for the past few days, and it seems that I rarely hear people around me talking about the Matsuura family. On the contrary, it is the Tagawa family.

The local influence is huge, and their influence seems to be found in various industries on the market. If your guess is true, then everything makes sense."

Japan has entered the Warring States Period since the Onin Rebellion in 1467. During this era, many of the daimyo who ruled the local areas came to power by overthrowing their superiors as subordinates. Therefore, this period is also known in history as the era of "lower control of superiors".

Although Amakusa Shiro was born as a Japanese samurai, his social status before leaving Japan was far from a level where he could have the opportunity to achieve superiority. After arriving at Kaihan, he was loyal to the executive committee wholeheartedly and had no intention of making any mistakes at all. Therefore,

He was unable to understand what was happening to the Hirado Domain.

As an outsider, Yuan Zhi's understanding of Japan comes from what he learned during his training in Sanya, and the content taught by the instructors comes from the information provided by the Haihan Crossing Group. Most of these information are from God's perspective.

When looking at the historical development of this period, it is inevitable to have a critical eye. Affected by this, Yuan Zhi naturally believed that the situation that happened in Hirado was actually reasonable and was not what Amakusa Shiro thought.

complex.

But no matter who is in charge of the Hirado Domain now, the situation here is not good news for Kaihan. The information obtained from the reconnaissance must be transmitted back to the Taedongjiang base via telegram as soon as possible so that the superiors can grasp the situation in Japan in a timely manner.

, and take necessary corresponding measures.

That night, the Datongjiang base received a telegram from Yuan Zhi. The news sent back from Japan was undoubtedly quite explosive, and it immediately attracted the attention of Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun. Although it was already relatively late when they received the telegram

, but the two immediately bumped into each other to exchange views on this.

"The situation is more serious than we expected!" Qian Tiandun sighed: "We are still investigating the musket case, but we didn't expect that they even secretly created an armed fleet!"

"It's better to discover late than not at all. If the musket case had not been investigated, it would probably be difficult to discover that the Japanese were doing these little tricks secretly." Wang Tom was very optimistic about this.

"This is no small trick!" Qian Tiandun corrected: "Build your own ships and cannons to form an armed fleet. Even if someone with this ability is not a maritime overlord, he will not be too far away from this position!"
Chapter completed!