mtlumby2d Chapter 335 Harsh Negotiation Conditions
Chapter 335 Harsh Negotiation Conditions
At Liu Ye's signal, the fleet sailed along the eastern coastline of Edo Bay into the waters off Uraga, searching for a suitable anchorage. Due to the sparse population along the coast, they sailed for nearly 60 nautical miles before finding a small fishing village of about 100 households with an excellent natural deep-water harbor. Gao Jie then ordered the fleet to anchor there and seek supplies.
No one, including Liu Ye, knew that this unassuming little fishing village was called Koshiba Village, belonging to the Rokuura Domain in the Kinki region, which later became Yokohama, Japan's second largest city. Their route into Edo Bay and the place where they anchored were exactly the same as the Black Ships incident of 1853, orchestrated by Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy.
For the first time in history, a fleet had reached Edo Bay; this day was destined to be etched in Japanese history. Upon hearing the news from the fishermen along the coast, the villagers who had lived there for generations rushed to the bay's shore to gaze intently. At that moment, everyone—old, strong, and young—was extremely tense, their eyes constantly searching the distant sea. A massive fleet appeared from the southwest, each ship as tall as a mountain; the villagers had never seen such magnificent ships. Some of the more knowledgeable remarked that they were as insurmountable as the tallest castle tower in the castles inhabited by samurai.
As the 1,000-ton displacement "Guangdong" was the first to dock and anchor, the visual impact was even stronger when viewed up close. The villagers looked at these large ships with increasing reverence, as if they were seeing gods from heaven. Some had already knelt on the ground, praying devoutly.
When Gao Jie sent his sailors ashore to request supplies from the villagers, he was mentally prepared for potential conflicts with the local indigenous people. Van Bommel told him from his own experience how terrible unfriendly indigenous people could be for sailors who landed. However, to his surprise, the local villagers were very friendly, even to the point of being ingratiating. Despite the language barrier, the sailors managed to obtain enough fresh water, vegetables, fresh fish, and other supplies from the villagers through gestures.
After the fleet anchored at Koshiba Village, Gao Jie suggested to Liu Ye that since there was a lack of local hydrographic data, continuing forward might result in running aground or hitting a reef. It would be too risky for the entire fleet to go straight to Edo. Instead, they should send a ship to contact the shogunate.
Liu Ye adopted his suggestion and sent the relatively shallow-draft Wuyi-class ship "Chengmai" to the destination, while Li Fei, the captain of the "Shandong" ship who was more familiar with Japan, was responsible for delivering Liu Ye's personal letter to the shogunate.
The Rokuura Domain, to which Koshiba Village belonged, was only about 30 kilometers away from Edo in a straight line. The astonishing news that a huge fleet had sailed straight into the heart of the shogunate's rule was quickly reported to the shogunate by the lord of the Rokuura Domain, arriving almost simultaneously with the letter from the "Chengmai".
Upon learning this news and receiving Liu Ye's sharp-tongued letter, the shogunate was shocked. It turned out that Edo Bay was not safe at all; this hostile fleet had arrived right under their noses without them noticing or reacting in time. Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu immediately dispatched his chief senior councilor (Note 1), Abe Masahiro, to Koshiba Village to negotiate and probe the background and intentions of this group.
Masahiro Abe and his entourage arrived at Xiaoshiba Village, made contact with the Qiongzhou fleet, and were taken aboard the "Guangdong" for negotiations.
Due to the strict restrictions imposed on the construction of large ships after the shogunate's policy of national isolation, the largest ship Abe Masahiro had ever seen in his life was the Atakebune. Upon boarding the majestic Eiraku-class battleship, although the ship remained remarkably stable amidst the undulating waves, Abe Masahiro felt somewhat dizzy. It wasn't seasickness, but rather the sheer size of the ship that stunned him—he couldn't believe there were ships in the world comparable to castle towers!
With a hint of fear, he met the man Liu Ye claimed to be, the man who had defeated Zheng Zhilong, the new maritime overlord from Japan to Southeast Asia.
Because Zheng Zhilong was so famous in Japan, Liu Ye, who was previously unknown, suddenly became very prominent in the minds of the Japanese. From the shogunate to the local feudal states, everyone was talking about this Ming Dynasty military commander. As for Abe Masahiro, although it was his first time meeting Liu Ye, he had heard of him for a long time.
After learning about Abe Masahiro's identity, Liu Ye briefly explained the assassination attempt that occurred in Nagasaki, and then directly stated his demands: "Given that I suffered a malicious attack by your samurai in Nagasaki, resulting in heavy casualties among my subordinates and a senior retainer being seriously injured, I hope that General Tokugawa will agree to the following conditions. Otherwise, I will not hesitate to fight and bombard Edo."
"First, hand over the murderer, Shimazu Chiyo, the eldest daughter of the Satsuma Domain, for my disposal. Second, pay one million taels of silver as compensation. Third, from now on, all of my warships may dock at any port in Japan at any time to obtain supplies. Fourth, anyone dispatched by my department will not be subject to trial under Japanese law and will only be handed over to Ming China. Fifth, all merchant ships coming to Japan, regardless of their country of origin, must possess a tax payment certificate issued by us to enter the magistrate's office for trade. Sixth, provide 100,000 catties of sulfur annually free of charge."
These conditions were carefully considered by Liu Ye after docking at Xiaoshiba Village. Compared to when he first left Nagasaki, they included additional conditions such as apprehending the murderer and obtaining strategic materials like sulfur. Apprehending the murderer was self-evident; only by personally killing that madwoman Shimazu Chiyo could he vent his hatred. Sulfur was an essential material for manufacturing gunpowder, making up a large proportion of the gunpowder formula. It was relatively difficult to obtain in Ming China, but only in Japan, known as the "Land of Volcanoes," was it abundant. The Qiongzhou Camp, whether in the army or navy, had a great need for this substance in the bullets and shells they used. With a stable source of gunpowder materials, there would be no bottleneck in weaponry for future military expansion.
Masahiro Abe had initially assumed the other party would merely demand some compensation, and he was mentally prepared for that. He figured that no matter how rude the other party was, anything that could be settled with money wouldn't be a problem, since Japan was in the wrong first. As for the score with the Satsuma Domain, he could settle that later; he needed to deal with the immediate trouble first. However, he was surprised to find that, except for the second demand, the other party's requests were completely unrelated to his expectations and were, in fact, outrageously unreasonable.
He stared at the other man in astonishment. Had he gone mad with greed? They had only fought once, yet he was making so many outrageous demands. Were your and your subjects' lives so precious?
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Note 1: The Rōjū was the highest permanent position in the shogunate, directly under the shogun and responsible for assisting the shogun in governing the highest political affairs. There were four or five shogunate officials who were appointed from among the hereditary feudal lords with an income of 25,000 koku or more.