Chapter 487: England Comes to Pay Tribute to the Great Qing

Saving the Great Ming, Main Text, Chapter 479 — An Apology Is Required. Baba Shigetoshi really is a complete fool — from start to finish he never once suspected that the Toyotomi loyalists on Jeju Island were fake... With a brain like his, he ought to find some deserted spot and cut his belly open!

But he did not take a little knife to his stomach. Instead, he cheerfully took the Ming side's demands and went to Moji Harbor to welcome the leisurely arriving Mito Chunagon and Matsudaira, Lord of Izu.

Actually, Baba and Mito Chunagon and Matsudaira, Lord of Izu, had all left Edo Castle on the same day. But his status was not the same as those two. He was merely a hatamoto; he could set out with just three or five retainers.

But Tokugawa Yorifusa was one of the noble Gosanke, the Deputy Shogun of the bakufu, the lord of the Mito domain!

When he traveled, the pomp was extraordinary — several hundred retainers followed him. All along the road it was a grand procession, comparable to going off to war. Moreover, his route passed through the territory of quite a few domains, and each of those domains had to receive him with great ceremony — a Deputy Shogun, who would dare slight him? And there was also that ferociously stern Matsudaira Nobutsuna following along!

So they ate and drank all along the way, and naturally dawdled. They set out at the end of the eighth month and only crossed the Kanmon Strait to reach Kyushu at the end of the tenth month. The chief retainers of several domains in northern Kyushu all came to Moji Harbor to receive them. Baba Shigetoshi, as Nagasaki bugyo, naturally had to go welcome them too.

At Moji Harbor, inside a jin'ya arranged by the Kokura domain, Baba Shigetoshi, his face full of delight, reported the results of his diplomatic work to Tokugawa Yorifusa and Matsudaira, Lord of Izu.

"Chunagon, Lord of Izu, this humble official exhausted his powers of persuasion and finally made the Ming envoy believe that the Toyotomi remnants on Jeju Island are also enemies of the bakufu..."

"Oh," Tokugawa Yorifusa nodded, looking at the beaming Baba. "Shigetoshi, is there more good news?"

"Hai!" Baba nodded heavily, drew an envelope from his breast, raised it above his head with both hands, then advanced on his knees to Yorifusa and presented the letter. After Yorifusa took the letter, he retreated on his knees back to his original position.

Yorifusa took out the letter and glanced at it, and his expression changed at once. "'From the Grand Marshal of the Army to the Seii Taishogun of Japan'? This is..."

"Grand Marshal of the Army is the military office held by the Ming regent Crown Prince, equivalent in rank to our country's Seii Taishogun!" Baba Shigetoshi said with a smile. "However, what this humble official has brought is a copy; the original is still in the hands of the Ming envoy Zheng Sen."

Matsudaira Nobutsuna interjected at this point: "Is Zheng Sen the son of Zheng Yiguan?"

"Exactly." Baba replied. "Zheng Yiguan has now risen high in the Ming — he has become the lord of the Quanzhou domain, and Zheng Sen has become the lord of the Taiwan domain. In addition, one of Zheng Yiguan's daughters has become a concubine of the regent Crown Prince!"

"How did that happen?" Matsudaira Nobutsuna asked.

Baba replied: "Because in the past two years the Ming has also entered a Warring States period of chaos! First the roving bandits rose in revolt and seized Beijing. Then the Tartars entered the passes and took the northern half of the realm. But the Ming Crown Prince, with the support of loyal ministers and good generals, obtained the authority of the Army and established the Southern Ming in the southeastern half. Not long ago he even dealt the Tartar caitiffs a heavy blow and killed the elder brother of the Tartar emperor — there is now the makings of a restoration. And the Zheng family has money and power, and dominates the seas, so it is no surprise that they have been given important employment."

Matsudaira Nobutsuna asked: "Since the Ming has entered a Warring States period of chaos, how does it still have the strength to concern itself with what happened on Jeju Island?"

"I fear this is being manipulated behind the scenes by Zheng Yiguan and another band of pirates used by the Ming court — the Sea Sand Gang?"

Baba Shigetoshi also found it a little strange, but he was a samurai who was quite good at using his head, so he came up with an answer by filling in the blanks himself.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna thought it over and found it reasonable, so he did not interject again.

By this time Tokugawa Yorifusa had finished reading the letter, drafted in the name of the Grand Marshal of the Army of the Great Ming and addressed to the Seii Taishogun of Japan.

In the letter, the Grand Marshal of the Army of the Great Ming put forward three demands to the Seii Taishogun of Japan: first, send envoys to Nanjing to explain the "Jeju Island Incident" to the Ming court; second, withdraw all Japanese samurai from Jeju Island and return Jeju Island to the Kingdom of Joseon; third, dispatch a delegation to travel to Joseon under the escort of Ming officials and offer an apology to the victimized Kingdom of Joseon!

This matter was somewhat difficult!

Tokugawa Yorifusa's brow could not help but furrow.

The first point was easy enough — as long as it was not sending envoys to declare themselves subjects.

And the Jeju Island Incident did need to be explained! The matter had nothing whatsoever to do with the Tokugawa bakufu, and the Tokugawa bakufu had no intention of invading Jeju Island or Joseon — the Toyotomi realm had been shattered to pieces precisely because of the "Keicho and Bunroku campaigns," and that was what gave the Tokugawa family its opportunity. How could the Tokugawa bakufu fail to learn that lesson?

As for the second point, the Zheng family would have to provide the fleet! Otherwise the Tokugawa bakufu's troops could not even reach Jeju Island — how were they to "withdraw" the Toyotomi loyalists there?

But the third point was absolutely out of the question... How could that be done? How could Great Japan offer an apology to the Kingdom of Joseon?

Japan is an imperial nation, a first-rate power on a par with the Great Ming! Joseon is a kingdom, and not even an independent kingdom at that — two grades below Japan. Being cut down by Japan is only to be expected; how could there be an apology?

"An apology is absolutely out of the question!" Tokugawa Yorifusa handed the letter to Matsudaira Nobutsuna. "The other two points can still be considered."

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said: "Last year Zheng Yiguan, through certain connections, purchased a large batch of teppo from the bakufu — presumably to help the Ming Crown Prince fight his war. At worst, the bakufu can export another batch of teppo to them... As long as there is no apology to Joseon, everything else is negotiable."

Tokugawa Yorifusa thought it over and found it workable. "Let it be so... Lord of Izu, let us depart as soon as possible."

Nagasaki, the Zheng residence. Zheng Sen, meeting Baba Shigetoshi again and learning of Tokugawa Yorifusa's opinion, wore a look of utter incomprehension and simply shook his head repeatedly: "They do not wish to apologize? When one has done something wrong, why be ashamed to offer an apology? As for imperial nation or kingdom — is that really so important?"

"The bakufu must uphold the dignity of the nation of Japan," Baba Shigetoshi explained. "Therefore an apology is not feasible... As for everything else, it is all negotiable, all negotiable."

"Everything else? Such as..."

"Such as the bakufu being able to sell another ten thousand teppo to your country." Baba stated the condition put forward by Matsudaira Nobutsuna.

Zheng Sen, however, wore a look of complete indifference and shook his head: "But our country has no need of your teppo... The earlier purchase of your teppo was for an emergency. But your teppo are too weak in power — they cannot penetrate the Tartar caitiffs' shield carts and heavy armor. Now that the situation is no longer critical, our country can slowly forge more suitable teppo of its own, and no longer needs the teppo provided by the bakufu."

His words were half true and half false. Japanese teppo were indeed not very good — inferior to the Spanish light matchlocks. But firearms in this age were a craft; a master training an apprentice took at least three years, and production capacity could not be expanded that quickly. So imports were still essential! And importing from Europe through the Dutch took too long. To expand the "Model Army" as quickly as possible, they still had to buy Japanese teppo.

But Zheng Sen was a merchant — and a cunning one at that. Of course he could not casually show his bottom card to Baba Shigetoshi.

"You do not want them?" Baba Shigetoshi was somewhat troubled. "Then does your country have other demands?"

"This noble is merely an envoy," Zheng Sen shook his head. "Some matters still require your country to send an important personage to Nanjing to speak face to face with His Highness the Crown Prince... To facilitate dealings between the two sides, this envoy wishes to establish a legation in Edo."

"An Edo legation?" Zheng Sen smiled. "Merely a temporary legation... If the two countries are to join forces against Jeju Island, there must be a channel of communication, must there not? The legation is for that purpose."

Baba was overjoyed at these words: "Does Your Excellency mean that you agree to provide ships?"

"As long as His Highness the Crown Prince permits it, my family has no problem," Zheng Sen said with a smile. "In addition, my family's ships are all both merchant and military. If they are used to help Japan transport troops, then it will be difficult to make money..."

"Understood, understood." Baba smiled. "The bakufu will not let the Zheng family labor in vain."

"There are also two small requests," Zheng Sen said. "My mother currently resides in Nagasaki and cannot leave Japan to reunite with my father. I hope the bakufu can grant a convenience.

In addition, my younger brother Shichizaemon is now also an official of the Great Ming, and will later be sent to take up residence in Edo to handle liaison with the bakufu. Therefore Japan must recognize his status as an envoy.

As for the matter of the apology, this noble can make efforts to mediate... I will not let the Shogun lose face."