Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 331 The Satsuma Domain's Sneak Attack

“That’s right,” Liu Ye said confidently. “We need to find a reason to teach the Hizen Domain and even the Shogunate a lesson and make them do things for us: all merchant ships coming to Japan will be prohibited from trading in Nagasaki without a tax payment certificate issued by us. In this way, these unscrupulous merchants will have to pay taxes in order to survive, otherwise they will not be able to do business. This is called cutting off the fuel supply, which is more effective than seizing ships and breaking legs.”

Li Fu stared in disbelief, stammering, "This...would the Japanese really do this? It doesn't sound very reliable to me..."

“Under normal circumstances, of course not. The Japanese tolerated our disturbance in Nagasaki mostly because of our strength; they didn't dare to offend us easily. Besides, we'd only cause trouble for a few more days before returning home. But getting them to pay us taxes is a different story. We can't make them submit with just a few words; we have to settle things with force…”

Li Fu scratched the back of his head: "But the Japanese are so compliant. They say you can't hit someone who's smiling at you. Without a decent reason, it's not easy to take action?"

“That’s right. If we act without a legitimate reason, it will incite the hatred of the Japanese. At that point, forget about getting them to cooperate with our tax collection; even the Nagasaki trading post will go out of business. After all, we’re here to make money in Japan, not to expand our territory. There’s no need to ruin things,” Liu Ye said. “Let’s call Mr. Yan, Mr. Liang, and a few others to go and find out what’s going on with that fat guy, Amagasaki Hyosuke…”

Half an hour later, at Amagasaki Hyosuke's residence.

Several bottles of Wuliangye liquor were on the table. Both the host and guests were quite tipsy. Amazaki Hyosuke, reeking of alcohol, said, "General Liu's liquor is really strong. I've never tasted such good liquor before..."

"This is a high-proof liquor produced in Qiongzhou, its alcohol content far surpasses that of your sake." Although he had drunk a few cups of shochu, Liu Ye remained sober and did not forget the purpose of his trip. He asked indirectly, "Mr. Amagasaki, we are friends, and I would like to ask you a question. Has your lord been dissatisfied with our actions at the Magistrate's Office?"

Thinking that Liu Ye was worried, Amagasaki Hyosuke quickly replied, "Please rest assured, General Liu. The magistrate has already revealed the inside information to me. The Hizen Domain considers General Liu a friend, and they will not mind such a small matter."

Liu Ye was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this. Why didn't the Hizen Domain have any temper? If only they had sent samurai to attack in a fit of rage, he could have used that as a pretext to force the Hizen Domain to agree to all his demands. He thought for a moment and then asked, "Nagasaki is also a direct territory of the shogunate. It's been seven or eight days; the news should have reached Edo by now. Doesn't the shogunate mind?"

Amagasaki Hyosuke pondered for a moment, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, before replying, "I dare not presume to guess the shogunate's thoughts, but judging from the thinking of Ito Yoshisuke, the chief retainer of the Hizen Domain, I estimate that even if the shogunate learns of this matter, it will not react much. After all, the shogun's tax collection targets are not Japanese merchants, and there is no substantial harm to the Hizen Domain or the shogunate, so..." He had another point he didn't make: since Ito Yoshisuke and the Nabeshima family were unwilling to offend such a powerful figure, the shogunate might not be willing to offend him either.

As Liu Ye left Amagasaki Hyosuke's residence, he was disappointed. He complained to Liang Xiaoming, "Are these still the Japanese we know? We've usurped the host's place and caused a ruckus in Nagasaki, which is quite a slap in the face. From the Hizen Domain to the Shogunate, there's been no reaction at all..."

Yan Guang interjected, "General, I don't quite understand. Do we really have to fight the Japanese? We've punished so many merchants, so there will naturally be fewer tax evaders in the future. We've achieved our goal."

Liang Xiaoming said, “You didn’t understand what the general meant. Temporary deterrence cannot be effective forever. Even if you cut off a leg or behead a man, as long as there is an opportunity, merchants will always find a way to evade taxes. The founding emperor of this dynasty was skinned alive and stuffed with straw, but that still couldn’t stop officials from being corrupt. That’s a perfect example. Only by blocking their way out in Nagasaki can we curb tax evasion at its source.”

Liu Ye nodded: "Mingzi understands me best."

Returning to my residence from Hyosuke Amagasaki's mansion, I had to walk along a stretch of seaside road. There were few houses and even very few pedestrians along this stretch.

Lin San, leading his guards to provide protection, frowned as he noticed the surroundings were eerily quiet. He had seen several pedestrians on his way to Amagasaki Hyosuke's house, but how come there wasn't a single person to be seen after only an hour or two?

Just then, rustling footsteps came from ahead, but no one was in sight. Lin San's instincts kicked in, and he reacted correctly, almost without thinking, ordering, "Protect the general! Prepare for battle!"

Suddenly, a number of Japanese samurai appeared at the end of the empty street, holding samurai swords in both hands and shouting "Give me the press!" as they charged forward.

Lin San, with his rich combat experience, immediately judged that it would take enough time for these people to rush over before he could fire, and immediately ordered his soldiers to form a battle formation.

Due to the narrow streets, not all of the 100 accompanying guards could be deployed; only 20 could be selected to form two rows for blocking, while the rest remained on standby.

As the twenty soldiers at the front loaded their ammunition and prepared to fire on command, footsteps sounded from behind.

Liu Ye and the others looked and saw a group of female arquebusiers dressed in white samurai uniforms with red trim appear behind them. They were lined up and aiming their guns about 60 or 70 paces away. It was clear that they wanted to use the other samurai's charge to distract the enemy and launch a pincer attack.

Liu Ye recognized the attire; they were from the Satsuma Domain. Liu Ye cursed under his breath, "They're insane! They're actually attacking people on the streets of another domain!"

After Lin San transferred half of his men to this side, the Zhu Tu warriors were already within rifle range, and the arquebusiers on the other side had finished loading their bullets, forming a pincer attack.

Following the infantry manual, Lin San issued the order: "All personnel, take aim, fire freely, open fire!"

"Bang bang bang!" Twenty rifles fired simultaneously at the side of the samurai, and the howling, running samurai fell headlong, halting the momentum of their charge.

On the other side, the women's arquebus team gained the upper hand, but the guards, who arrived later, made up for the slight time difference with their well-trained movements, and the two sides opened fire almost simultaneously.

"Bang bang bang," gunshots rang out, smoke filled the air, and people fell on both sides, with others immediately filling the gaps left by the fallen.

Caught between two groups of soldiers, Liu Ye's face was ashen. At such close range, if a stray bullet hit him, it would be such a terrible injustice. Since Tangjiazhuang, they had fought countless battles and emerged unscathed. This time, he couldn't afford to be caught off guard and killed by a bunch of Japanese lunatics.