Chapter 488: Can the Qing Hold On?

In the fortified compound belonging to the Hizen Nabeshima domain within the harbor town of Nagasaki, Tokugawa Yorifusa and Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who had traveled at a leisurely pace the whole way, finally met with Zheng Sen, courtesy name Damu, the Ming diplomat who had already been in Japan for several months. The two sides seated themselves as host and guest in formal kneeling posture. Also present at the negotiations were Baba Shigetoshi, Tagawa Shichizaemon, Tokugawa Yorifusa's heir Tokugawa Mitsukuni, and several senior Nagasaki interpreters responsible for recording and translation.

Though it was called a negotiation, the general terms had in fact already been settled through Baba Shigetoshi, who had been shuttling back and forth between the two sides. Today's meeting between Zheng Sen and Tokugawa Yorifusa and Matsudaira Nobutsuna was merely to give final confirmation to the terms both parties had already agreed upon.

"Chūnagon, Izu-no-kami..." After the great men on both sides had been introduced to one another and exchanged a round of pleasantries, Baba Shigetoshi brought the conversation to the main subject.

The Nagasaki magistrate first said to Tokugawa Yorifusa and Matsudaira Nobutsuna in Japanese: "Marquis Zheng of the Ming is a friend of the shogunate. His father, Lord Quanzhou, visited Odawara Castle in his early years to pay his respects to Taidoku-in and received Taidoku-in's patronage. He can be trusted."

In his youth, Zheng Zhilong had indeed been sheltered by a "protagonist's halo." When he was making his way in Nagasaki in his early years, he had gone as a representative of the Nagasaki Chinese merchants to Odawara Castle to pay his respects to the former shogun Hidetada, who by then was already called "Ōgosho." As a result, he had received some support from the Nagasaki magistrate's office, and he truly could be counted as a friend of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Zheng Sen had lived in Nagasaki since childhood and only went to China at the age of seven, so he could understand Japanese and speak a little of it. Hearing Baba mention the "Odawara audience," he said to Yorifusa in Japanese: "Chūnagon, when my father learned in Fujian of Taidoku-in's passing, he was deeply grieved, and he has always wished to go to Zōjō-ji in Edo to pay his respects at Taidoku-in's grave. He simply never had the opportunity to make the journey. When I left Nanjing this time, my father entrusted me with the task of going to Edo to pay respects at Taidoku-in's grave. Might it be possible to make the journey?"

He was playing the emotional card now. His goal was to enter Edo and have an audience with Tokugawa Iemitsu — he was not only an envoy of the Ming, but also a marquis of the Ming, and his younger sister was a concubine of the Ming regent Crown Prince. His status was exalted. Once he arrived in Edo, Tokugawa Iemitsu would most likely have to receive him in person.

And Zheng Sen would then have the opportunity to discuss directly with the shogun the signing of a "Ming-Japan Trade Agreement"... Japan operated under a policy of national seclusion, open only to the Ming, the Netherlands, and Joseon, and open only at the single port of Nagasaki. Joseon was itself secluded, so naturally it had no merchant ships that could reach Japan. Thus Japan's foreign trade was in practice monopolized jointly by the Zheng family and the Dutch East India Company.

Monopoly, of course, meant enormous profits! And a two-party monopoly was naturally not as comfortable as having the whole thing to oneself... Now, because of Zhu Cilang's founding policies, the Zheng family had lost the right to conduct the Sino-Dutch monopoly trade with the Dutch East India Company, so they wanted to make up some of the loss from the Japan trade.

Tokugawa Yorifusa and Matsudaira Nobutsuna exchanged a glance, then Yorifusa spoke: "This matter requires the decision of the Kubō. However, I can submit the request on your behalf, and I believe the Kubō will not refuse."

The matter was as good as settled!

Zheng Sen continued: "I have now learned that the Toyotomi loyalists who have occupied Jeju Island of the Kingdom of Joseon were not dispatched by the shogunate, and moreover, they are enemies of the shogunate."

"That is correct," Matsudaira Nobutsuna took up the topic, nodding. "Although they are loyal retainers, they are indeed enemies of the shogunate! The shogunate is willing to send troops to expel them. However, Japan currently practices national seclusion and has no large ships capable of making the voyage to Jeju Island, so we hope the Zheng family can provide them."

Zheng Sen pressed: "Then after the shogunate's forces expel the Toyotomi loyalists, to whom will Jeju Island belong?"

"The shogunate has no territorial ambitions on Jeju Island," Tokugawa Yorifusa said. "But it must be ensured that the island is not occupied again by the Toyotomi loyalists... Given the strength of the Zheng family's fleet, that should not be difficult, should it?"

Zheng Sen actually shook his head and said with a wry smile: "This matter is not so simple!"

"What?" Matsudaira Nobutsuna frowned. "You cannot do it? Do you need to ask the Dutch for help?"

"Heh," Zheng Sen smiled. "Does Izu-no-kami suppose those Toyotomi loyalists got to Jeju Island on their own?"

"What?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Tokugawa Yorifusa and Matsudaira Nobutsuna were both taken aback.

Zheng Sen said: "According to my investigation, the Toyotomi loyalists reached Jeju Island aboard Western barbarian soft-sailed galleons!"

"Ah?"

"Is that true?"

Zheng Sen said: "Absolutely true!"

The ships that had carried the Toyotomi loyalists to Jeju Island were the galleons Zhu Cilang had bought from Macau. Most of the sailors aboard were Westerners, and there were also some black men... By the time the Tokugawa shogunate's forces sailed to Jeju Island aboard the great bird ships provided by the Zheng family, they would see with their own eyes the Toyotomi loyalists fleeing aboard the Westerners' galleons!

Fleeing in the direction of the Ryukyu Kingdom controlled by the Satsuma domain...

Matsudaira Nobutsuna asked: "Then when can the Zheng family provide warships to transport the shogunate's forces to Jeju Island?"

Zheng Sen replied: "Considering that the Toyotomi loyalists are supported by Western warships, the Zheng family will also need to dispatch a certain number of large warships, so it will have to wait until next year.

In addition, we will need to consult with the Kingdom of Joseon... After all, Jeju Island is Joseon territory! The shogunate has no objection to that point, I trust?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna answered with great certainty: "No objection."

Tokugawa Yorifusa added: "But the shogunate cannot apologize to Joseon for the actions of the Toyotomi loyalists... And Joseon must ensure that Jeju Island is never again used by the Toyotomi loyalists as a base for disturbing Japan's domestic stability!"

"Chūnagon, Izu-no-kami," Zheng Sen said, weighing his words, "if you insist on not apologizing and also demand that Jeju Island no longer be used by the Toyotomi loyalists... then the date of the military expedition may have to be further postponed. Because our dynasty is now suffering a great calamity and can no longer control the Kingdom of Joseon as it did in the past. We will need more time to send envoys to negotiate with the King of Joseon.

And in order to ensure communication among the Ming, Japan, and Joseon, we hope to open an embassy in Edo... and we hope the shogunate can agree to allow Zheng family merchant ships to enter and leave the port of Edo."

Tokugawa Yorifusa and Matsudaira Nobutsuna were both startled.

"What?"

"Your Zheng family merchant ships want access to Edo?"

Zheng Sen nodded with a smile: "This would be beneficial to both sides... My family intends to open a route to New Spain by way of Japan. We will bring goods produced in the Ming or the Southern Seas to Edo, and carry away whale oil and lacquerware produced in Japan. We will not take gold, silver, or copper out of Japan."

There was enormous profit to be made from Zheng family merchant ships entering and leaving Edo! Because Japan's true great market was in Edo — after the implementation of the sankin-kōtai system, the lords of Japan's "three hundred domains" had all become "Edo men." They and their families lived in Edo for long periods, and the time they spent returning to their own domains accounted for only a very small portion of their lives, equivalent to a business trip.

Therefore the consumption of the domain lords and a considerable portion of their senior retainers also took place in Edo! Once Zheng family merchant ships could legally enter and leave the port of Edo, they could directly supply overseas luxury goods to the domain lords and senior retainers, the wealthiest class in Japan. The magnitude of the profit was self-evident.

Moreover, this was now the Age of Discovery! Japan was no longer a country at the end of the world. East of Japan, there was still a vast new continent.

And given the current seafaring capability of Chinese junks, it was extremely difficult to sail directly from the homeland to the new continent without resupplying en route. Even if they could make the crossing, they would be unable to carry much cargo.

Therefore it was necessary to obtain a port of call in eastern Japan, and Edo was naturally the best choice — the Zheng family could even establish a trade route departing from Shanghai, passing through Edo, then on to New Spain, and then returning to Taiwan by a route near the equator.

This trade route almost exactly overlapped with the Spanish galleon trade line. The only differences were that it would call at the port of Edo in Japan, and that Chinese raw silk and porcelain would not be the main commodities shipped to the new continent; instead, whale oil and lacquerware produced in Japan would be the products sent to New Spain.