mtl008 Chapter 326 The Difficult Nagasaki Town Official
Chapter 326 The Difficult Nagasaki Town Official
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Under intense bombardment, the old Fujian-style ship simply couldn't withstand the pressure. It quickly began to take on water, list, and slowly sink. The sailors and crew in the sea were overjoyed; thankfully, they hadn't been foolish enough to stay on board and perish with the enemy. These barbarians from Guangdong were truly arrogant, opening fire at the slightest provocation. This ship was full of goods; they could easily make tens of thousands of taels of silver by reselling them in Japan!
As the ship slowly sank, creating a whirlpool, the sailors and crew breathed a sigh of relief, thankful they had managed to avoid it and survive. However, their joy was short-lived. It was still springtime, and the temperature in the Sea of Japan was much lower than in southern China. People in the water soon felt the biting cold, and their teeth began to chatter.
The boat captain waved towards the warship in the distance, shouting, "Sir, we know we were wrong! Please have mercy and save us! We'll serve you like cattle and horses to repay your kindness!" This boat captain wasn't with the ship owner; he was merely hired to transport goods. On the way, they encountered this group of thugs who robbed the ship owner. No one knew why, but the boat captain was overcome by greed. He wanted to take the opportunity to escape. If he could avoid the group and secretly sell the goods, tens of thousands of taels of silver would be his for the taking. Little did he know that this one wrong decision would not only prevent him from making a fortune but also cost him his ship and his life.
The others joined in, shouting, "Please, sir, have mercy!"
Two Wuyi-class warships were moored not far away, gently bobbing with the waves, with wisps of smoke rising from their gun ports, but they showed no intention of rescuing anyone, and no one on board responded.
After shouting for a while, everyone felt something was wrong. Judging from this posture, were they going to kill everyone? It was just a moment of confusion, why would they really be so ruthless?
After the Fujian ship sank completely, the two warships turned around and sailed back without stopping. Only then did the people in the sea realize that the other side really intended to kill them—in early spring in Japan, the seawater was icy cold, and within a quarter of an hour or two, they would quickly lose heat, their hands and feet would become numb, and they would eventually sink into the sea and perish. There was no other possibility; even a god could not save them.
Seeing that they were in dire straits, the boatman cursed, "You little bastards, you're so vicious, you'll be going to the eighteenth level of hell! Just give us a quick death by firing squad..." The despair of freezing to death or drowning was far worse than being fired squad.
The others joined in the cursing, and soon Songjiang dialect, Suzhou dialect, and Hangzhou dialect all came out, with insults such as "dog-poop," "bastard," and "ghost head" ringing out endlessly.
The warships sailed further and further away, remaining completely unmoved.
The other merchant ships, witnessing the fate of the ship and its crew, felt a pang of sympathy, especially when they saw a group of people struggling in the sea before slowly sinking. They were filled with dread.
After this scare as an example, none of the Fujian ships dared to entertain any thoughts of escape, and obediently followed all the way to Nagasaki.
The appearance of such a large fleet in Nagasaki alarmed the Magistrate's Office. A ship powered by oars approached the fleet and inquired about their purpose. Upon learning that it was the recently renowned Qiongzhou Camp, the ship immediately led the way and went ashore to report.
Upon arrival at the port, officials from the magistrate's office were already waiting at the dock to greet him. After Liu Ye disembarked, town official Amazaki Hyosuke greeted him with a beaming smile, bowing and scraping from afar: "General Liu, it's been a long time! Welcome back to Nagasaki!"
Liu Ye greeted him with a smile: "Mr. Amazaki, it's been a long time. I'm here to bother you again."
"Not at all, it is an honor for all the townspeople of the Magistrate's Office to have General Liu grace us with his presence!" Amagasaki Hyosuke smiled obsequiously. "It is also my honor to serve the General!"
Liu Ye noticed that Amazaki Hyosuke's address and attitude towards him were much more respectful than last time. As Liu Quan said, the formidable strength he displayed in defeating Zheng Zhilong had intimidated these Japanese people. When faced with a powerful opponent they could not match, the Japanese mostly chose to look up to him and fawn over him.
“Very well, there is something I need your help with right now. I need to apprehend Ming Dynasty merchants who are evading taxes in Nagasaki, and I would appreciate your strong support, Mr. Amagasaki and everyone at the Magistrate’s Office.”
"Tax evasion?" Amagasaki Hyosuke had been a town official for many years and considered himself well-informed, but he had never heard of such a thing.
"Simply put, all maritime merchants within the Ming Dynasty, whether they are Ming citizens, Dutch, Spanish, or Portuguese, need to pay me a certain amount of silver in order to sail safely at sea," Liu Ye explained in the simplest terms.
Amazaki Hyosuke suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. I understand now. How can I cooperate with you?" Before Zheng Zhilong died, he had already started collecting protection money, and Amazaki Hyosuke had heard about it. In his view, this so-called tax was just a different way of saying it.
Li Fu whispered to Liu Ye, "General, all the maritime merchants need to come to the magistrate's office to check their goods and settle payments. Just guard the magistrate's office and arrest them one by one. No one can escape."
Liu Ye then said, "Do all the maritime merchants have to come to the magistrate's office? Tomorrow I'll send someone to sit inside the magistrate's office and arrest them one by one. Don't worry, I'll only arrest the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch, the Spanish, and the Portuguese. I won't arrest the Japanese merchants from the mainland; I'm giving you face."
Unexpectedly, the other party made such an outrageous request, and Hyosuke Amazaki's smile froze on his face. This was incredibly awkward. It was like a guest barging into your house and trying to kidnap you, completely disregarding you as the host. Where was your dignity?
Seeing that Amazaki Hyosuke was somewhat troubled, Liu Ye asked, "What's wrong? Is it difficult for Mr. Amazaki? It's alright. Since it's difficult for you to arrest people in the Magistrate's Office, I won't force you. I'll just guard outside Nagasaki Port. I'll sink every ship that comes, and then pull the people out and interrogate them slowly. Anyone who owes me taxes will be arrested."
Upon hearing this, Amagasaki Hyosuke was horrified. This was even more terrifying. To sink passing ships indiscriminately while guarding the open sea—what difference was there between that and starting a war? He hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "General Liu, you absolutely mustn't do this! If you do this, the nearby feudal lords and the shogunate will misunderstand and consider it as starting a war, and things will become irreversible..."
Liu Ye snorted: "I can defeat Zheng Zhilong, who commands hundreds of warships and hundreds of thousands of troops. There is no one on this sea that I fear. Misunderstanding is misunderstanding. Bring it on!"
These words struck at Amagasaki Hyosuke's Achilles' heel, leaving him speechless. Zheng Zhilong was already a behemoth in the eyes of all Japanese, an invincible force at sea. Now, with the emergence of an even more monstrous Qiongzhou Battalion, who would dare to fight him at sea? Wouldn't that be like an egg hitting a rock?
After some consideration, Amazaki Hyosuke decided to choose the lesser of two evils and let Liu Ye arrest people in the magistrate's office. It would only be a loss of face, but it was better than letting him cause a great disaster that would lead to war between the two countries.