Chapter 2729

The Japanese shogunate's attitude towards Kaihan has always been quite contradictory. On the one hand, because of the lessons learned from the Hirado Domain, the shogunate has always been very wary of Kaihan's armed forces, fearing that Kaihan would find another excuse to invade; on the other hand, Kaihan took the lead in establishing

The established trade system has indeed brought considerable benefits to the shogunate, and the transaction volume has been increasing year by year. Considering the actual benefits, it is unlikely that the shogunate will voluntarily give up this benefit.

However, there must be advantages and disadvantages. After Kaihan forcibly opened Japan's door, it brought not only benefits, but also many changes that were beyond the control of the shogunate. For the Tokugawa shogunate, which has been strengthening its rule with a lock-down policy in recent decades,

He said that the existence of Haihan was a huge hidden danger. Although he could not cut off contact with him, he had always been extremely wary of Haihan.

Where the shogunate's current lukewarm attitude comes from, the mission has no way of guessing for the time being. But fortunately, Kaihan is not without intelligence sources in Edo. In addition to Kaihan merchants, there is also the Kaihan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

of accredited agencies.

Like the embassies set up by Haihan in other countries, in addition to completing basic diplomatic tasks, the Edo embassy also has the function of collecting various types of intelligence. The person sitting here is also a young official, and he is working with a young official from Sanya.

Tao Hongfang and others are old acquaintances.

Among the hundreds of second-generation people born on Hainan Island, most of them stayed on the island to develop like Tao Hongfang and others. After completing their studies, their parents would arrange a local job and enter various core departments early.

. It is rare to see second-generation people working in other places at this age, and even rarer ones to work in foreign countries. Ma Boran is one of them.

Ma Boran was arranged to work in a "remote" area like Edo, not because his family had little influence and could only choose to work in such an unpopular area. On the contrary, his father Maliko was also considered a high-ranking official in Haihan.

He was a very influential figure. In his early years, he served as the head of the Guangdong Office and the chief executive of Haikou District. In 1650, he was appointed as the head of the two major districts. His power was no less powerful than that of Shi Chengwu, Chen Yixin and others.

Ma Boran is the eldest son of Maliko. He was sent to Sanya to receive high-end education since he was a child. He grew up in the same circle as Tao Hongfang and others, so he is considered acquaintance. However, Maliko chose an unusual development path for his son.

The road arranged for him to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and within two years he was assigned as a diplomat to the Edo Embassy as the person in charge.

Compared with staying in Sanya, it is still unclear whether Ma Boran is taking a better path. But one thing is certain, that is, the independent working environment abroad will definitely better train his work.

ability.

Sakai Tadakiyo had just left, and Mabo arrived just after him. He had obviously calculated the time and deliberately missed Sakai Tadakiyo. As a diplomat stationed in Edo by Kaihan, this approach was obviously a bit unusual.

However, before the members of the mission could ask questions, Ma Boran took the initiative to explain the reason after greeting them: "The shogunate is a little dissatisfied with your previous actions in Nagasaki and Osaka. It has summoned me twice and asked our country to stop relevant actions.

.Sakai Tadakiyo is one of the hard-liners. I actively avoided meeting him to avoid any unpleasantness with him."

Shi Chengwu suddenly said: "No wonder the other party's attitude was a little weird when we met just now, but he didn't mention what you said in person."

The mission proposed the establishment of a dedicated Haihan port area in Nagasaki, and tried to contact the imperial family while in Osaka. These actions were obviously not friendly to the shogunate, and it is not surprising that there was dissatisfaction.

Tao Hongfang smiled bitterly and said: "It seems that our next mission in Edo will not go too smoothly."

Ma Boran's expression was very relaxed: "This meeting involves actual interests, and the opinions within the shogunate are not one-sided. In my opinion, it can only be delayed for a few days at most. Quan should give the envoy some face, and wait until they feel that they have earned their face."

Even if we do, we will still return to the negotiating table.”

Wang Anguo frowned when he heard this and said: "Then I may not be able to participate in the subsequent work... I will stay in Edo for at most four or five days. After completing the supplies, I will set off. If I continue to delay, I am worried about the immigration

The mood will start to become unstable.”

There are a large number of immigrants in the fleet led by Wang Anguo. The longer the journey takes, the greater the possibility of changes. Wang Anguo knows that the transoceanic voyage is both difficult and dangerous, and it is extremely harmful to professional sailors and the navy.

Test, not to mention these immigrants who went to a foreign country for the first time.

As for obtaining supplies from the local area, they can probably only be coordinated and arranged through Ma Boran.

The Haihan embassy is located in Edo Castle, which is too far away. In addition, the meeting time with the shogun has yet to be determined, so Ma Boran did not rush to invite everyone to the embassy, ​​but took the initiative to stay at the temporary anchorage for convenience.

Discuss next steps with them.

Although they were somewhat dissatisfied with the behavior of the mission during their visit, the Japanese did not deliberately make things difficult when it came to supplies. Starting from the next day, various supplies purchased through the embassy and Haihan merchants were continuously transported to the temporary anchorage.

The Guandong Plain is flat and open, with excellent water conservancy conditions. In addition, it has been peaceful in the past ten years, so the grain output is quite high, and the price of grain has always been relatively cheap. However, Haihan's sudden large-scale purchase still reduced the supply of rice, noodles, vegetables and fruits on the market.

It fell into a tight situation and the price suddenly increased by 20%.

In addition, a batch of live poultry and livestock were added to the ship, but the local varieties in Edo were obviously not as good as those specially bred in Haihan. Wang Anguo did not like them, so they could only be used as food on the way across the ocean.

After spending three days to complete the supplies, Wang Anguo bid farewell to everyone in the mission. Everyone knew that he had been back home for more than half a year, and he was already eager to return, so he no longer wanted to stay and made arrangements the night before departure.

Let him practice it at the banquet, and finally have a drink together.

Early the next morning, the immigration fleet led by Wang Anguo had already assembled. Although everyone had drunk a lot the night before, they still came early to see them off.

"I am able to go on an envoy with you all this time, and I will take care of you, and I will benefit a lot! I say goodbye today, and I don't know when I will see you again, so please take care of yourself!" On the occasion of parting, Wang Anguo could not hide his reluctance to leave.

Friends with similar age, status, and growth experience can only be met when returning to China. On the other side of the ocean, there are not so many friends with whom we can talk. And the North American colonies are too far away.

He didn't know how many years it would be before he returned to China for the first time, and he might not be able to meet this group of people again by then, which really made him a little sad.

Everyone waved their arms goodbye on the shore and watched Wang Anguo's immigration fleet slowly sailing south out of Edo Bay.
Chapter completed!